PAK VS NZ - 1st Test, Pakistan v New Zealand in UAE, 2018

So, who's in for an angioplasty? Also fingernail grafting? Surely, we'll get mass discounts. Oh Pakistan, you're the flag-bearer for these low-scoring thrillers; if only they could fly in Misbah or Younis in time. But this sets the series up beautifully, and until Dubai, I, Vineet Anantharaman sign off on behalf of Abhinand Raghavendran, Rishi Roy and our scorer Mukesh Gowda. Until our ventilators come along, ta ta!!

Kane Williamson | New Zealand skipper: A superb fighting effort. The surface wasn't the easiest, it required a real scrappy performance and we saw it from both sides right throughout the match. The pitch offered good turn on day one and all the spinners did a fantastic job. A great advertisement for Test cricket, it went on only for three days but went all the way to the wire. We'll sit down and review our performance, we need to go back and work on areas. But then it is a fantastic game to be a part of and nice to be on the winning side. Pakistan are a superb team and it was a great spectacle for all those out there watching. The attitude throughout the game was outstanding and the guys stayed in the contest for a long period. We saw through the game that wickets fell in clumps and that was reflective of the way the game ended. Those two bowlers [Ajaz and Wagner] were fantastic, they just kept bowling for 20 overs or something. It is nice to get these performances in and feels very rewarding. There are so many small margins whether you have a win or a loss and we need to look at them, which is something you don't do when you are on the right side. But this fighting spirit is what we would want to hold on to and take it through the rest of the series.

Sarfraz Ahmed | Pakistan skipper: Obviously it is disappointing. The start today wasn't good, but the way Azhar and Asad played, we should have finished it off. The collapse after that was very disappointing for the team. We obviously need to give credit to Ajaz here, he bowled superbly. The pitch has changed and he bowled well. Our batsmen should have handled it better, given ourselves a bit of time, but we just didn't. The batsmen should have scored the runs itself in the first place, but some of the shots played by some of them in the tail were quite disappointing. We had opportunities right through the game, first to score big runs after getting them out for 153 in the first innings and then to finish off the game now; the fact that we couldn't do it is very disappointing. [Urdu translation]

Ajaz Patel | Man of the Match: For me my gameplan was pretty simple. Obviously the scoreboard didn't look too simple but we just kept plugging away. We as a unit believed that we could do something special and it all went our way. A lot of credit goes to the environment we have; it is a very relaxed environment we have and we look to keep things nice and simple. In terms of pressure on my debut, I have put in a lot of hard work and I felt like I was ready and just left the rest to the Almighty. I only looked to hit my areas and make use of that wicket because it is not everyday that we get pitches like these. It is a great feeling to pull off such wins in the final innings for your country; just a great dream come true. Pakistan have many good players of spin and they kept testing us. At any point, the game could have gone either way, but we just kept sticking in.

Harsha Bhogle: It is not for nothing that Pakistan have the reputation of being unpredictable and fragile in chases. Well on course to winning, then run-outs and slogs. 130-3, then 147-4 needing 176 and lose by 4. And Neil Wagner, born in Pretoria, playing for New Zealand, aged 32, is the sleeper hit of test cricket.

Ajaz Patel, 5/59 (2nd innings): (He gets the match ball for his maiden fifer on debut) A dream come true. Debuting for New Zealand and being in a position to win the game for your country. I think it is the New Zealand way to believe anything's possible. It is the Kiwi way. In the lunch break, we planned to keep it simple the whole time - bowling on middle and off. We tried to follow that I guess. I've waited a while for my opportunity - I'm thirty now. I've put a lot of work in, and it's rewarding to get one across the line for the country.

But that's what turned into the masterstroke -- with a continuous 13-over spell, that was triggered with Shafiq's feather at the stroke of lunch. And then the nerves took over, first with Azhar Ali throwing Babar Azam under the bus with his calling for singles that even Dhoni wouldn't dare look for. Yasir didn't really have a choice to not poke at one, but the rest - Bilal Asif and Hasan Ali in particular - just couldn't keep their head, slogging aimlessly to leave Azhar Ali stranded. Abbas was the only guy who looked like staying on, and just when he did, Azhar found himself trapped. Ajaz Patel, who writes your scripts? A fifer in this innings on debut .. listen in to him, as we line up the presentations.

14:28 Local Time: This was supposed to be a foregone conclusion in a dying format, right? But what a match this was, one for the ages, one for the youtube virals. It looked done when New Zealand collapsed for 153 in the first innings. It looked done when Pakistan were off to a flier yesterday. It looked done when Asad Shafiq and Azhar Ali were milking it around for fun. But trust Pakistan to infuse life, even if it is at the cost of looking really stupid. And also trust Neil Wagner. It took Williamson ages to bring him into the attack this morning, trying out every possible option before he HAD TO go to him.

Ajaz Patel to Azhar Ali, out Lbw!! That's the clincher. Bruce Oxenford doesn't need a lot of convincing on this LBW appeal, but it looked a pretty brave call. Good on Azhar that he has a review, he goes up, right away. So here are the plain details -- It was drifting on leg, nicely looped slowly up too. Azhar ends up defending all around it and is pinned on his back foot. Now here is the technology -- The one big thing that looked dodgy was where the ball pitched, and it's just in-line with leg-stump and it clips the top of the middle bail. Umpire's call. Azhar Ali can't believe it, he's nearly in tears. Save your lungs, Kiwis! Azhar Ali lbw b Ajaz Patel 65(136) [4s-5]

Ajaz Patel to Azhar Ali, THATS OUT!! Lbw!!

Ajaz Patel to Azhar Ali, no run, backs away, slices and runs it down to a deep backward point

Ajaz Patel to Azhar Ali, no run, a rocking back punch, down to a deep sweeper

Ajaz Patel to Azhar Ali, no run, behind the line in the solid keep out

Wagner to Mohammad Abbas, no run, there's the skiddy bouncer. Ask Abbas how he ducked this, he won't be able to tell you either. Wagner isn't amused, he stares, sledges ..

Now then, Abbas has been done it six times already. Can he pull off the seventh?

Wagner to Azhar Ali, 1 run, some width outside off. Dabbed down to third man. 5

Wagner to Azhar Ali, no run, wow. Azhar goes to ramp a walking-2007-Misbah-scoop of sorts over the keeper. Luckily Wagner is quicker than Joginder Sharma, and the ball bounces over the outrageous shot that this was

Slip goes out. Two short mid-wickets catching.

Wagner to Azhar Ali, no run, 132.7kph, sticks in the pitch, just doesn't get up and Azhar whacks the low-pull to deep mid-wicket. Nothing is worth singles anymore

Wagner to Azhar Ali, no run, 130.5kph, a hopping pull again, doing well to roll his wrists on it and keep it down, once again to deep square leg

Wagner to Azhar Ali, no run, a shuffling-pull. One-legged. Nailing it to deep square leg