31 Oct 2018

Tough first day for New Zealand A cricketers

6:12 am on 31 October 2018

The New Zealand A cricketers have had a long day in the field at the start of the first unofficial Test against Pakistan A in Dubai.

After deciding to bat first Pakistan scored 300 for five.

Canterbury pace bowler Kyle Jamieson.

Canterbury pace bowler Kyle Jamieson. Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Opener and former Test player Shan Masood is unbeaten on 164, while Scott Kuggeleijn and Kyle Jamieson picked up two wickets each.

Pakistan looked set to take complete control of the game, until the tourists picked up four late wickets.

Masood shared a second-wicket stand of 157 with Abid Ali, which had Pakistan A in a strong position at 220 for one shortly after the tea break.

However tall seamer Kyle Jamieson bowled Ali for 87, taking his second wicket of the innings, and that started a slump. Pakistan A lost three more wickets for 17 in the space of 24 balls.

Northern Districts seamer Scott Kuggeleijn took two wickets in the 72nd over, including captain Mohammad Rizwan, who scored two centuries against NZ A in the one-day series earlier in the tour.

Masood's ninth first-class century was the rock of the innings, and included two sixes and 15 fours. Both sixes came from 18-year-old spinner Rachin Ravindra, who was making his first-class NZ A debut.

The first took Masood to 99 shortly before tea. Two of Masood's 12 tests were against New Zealand in 2014. Ravindra stuck at his job and got through 14 steady overs.

Pakistan's team includes five players who have played test cricket.

The NZ A bowlers pulled the run-rate back noticeably over the final session. Jamieson, with two for 34, and fourth seamer Blair Tickner both impressed with tidy displays.

NZ A captain Jeet Raval used seven bowlers through the hot day, and shared the load, leg-spinner Todd Astle on as early as the ninth over on his way through 20 overs.

The match is played over four days.