Dubai Test: Babar, Haris centuries put Pakistan in command

Dubai - Pakistan declare their first innings at 418/5

Pakistan's prolific limited-overs batsman Babar Azam scored his maiden Test century and Haris Sohail scored his second Test century as Pakistan took control of the second Test against New Zealand at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
Thanks to their efforts on the second day, Pakistan declared their first innings at 418/5 (167 overs).
New Zealand (24/0) openers Jeet Raval (17 not out) and Tom Latham (5 not out) survived the nine overs in fading lights.
Resuming at the overnight score of 207/4, Pakistan added 67 runs in the first session of the second day and 82 runs in the second session.
Babar (127 not out, 263 balls, 12 fours, 2 sixes), who has already scored eight hundreds in one-day cricket, batted beautifully on Sunday.
The 24-year-old right handed was unbeaten on 12 at stumps on the first day, and he was the more fluent batsman on the second day during his 186-run partnership with Haris.
Meanwhile, Haris (147, 421 balls, 13 fours), who was not out on 81 on Saturday, continued to play cautiously and survived a 12-ball wait on 99 to complete his hundred off 309 balls.
For Haris, this was his second hundred in Dubai after he made 110 against Australia here last month.
The 29-year-old left-hander spent 574 minutes (nine hours 34 minutes) at the wicket and frustrated Kane Williamson's team with resilience.
Haris and Azhar Ali (81, 187 balls, 7 fours, 1 six) rescued Pakistan on the opening day with their 126-run partnership for the third wicket after Pakistan had lost two early wickets.
Pakistan lost the first Test by four runs in Abu Dhabi.
The third and final Test of the series will also be played in Abu Dhabi.
Scoreboard
Pakistan first innings
Imam-ul-Haq c Latham b Grandhomme 9
Mohammad Hafeez c Latham b Grandhomme 9
Azhar Ali run out 81
Haris Sohail c Watling b Boult 147
Asad Shafiq c Wagner b Patel 12
Babar Azam not out 127
Sarfraz Ahmed not out 30
Extras: (2b, 1 nb) 3
Total: (for five wickets, 167 overs) 418/5
Fall of wickets 1/8, 2/25, 3/151, 4/174, 5/360
Bowling: Trent Boult 34-7-106-1, Colin de Grandhomme 30-11-44-2, Neil Wagner 37-12-63-0, Patel 39-5-120-1, Sodhi 22-1-63-0, Williamson 5-0-20-0.
New Zealand first innings
Jeet Raval not out 17
Tom Latham not out 5
Extras: (lb ) 2
Total: (no loss, 9 overs) 24
Bowling: Abbas 2-0-8-0, Hasan Ali 2-1-4-0, Hafeez 2-1-1-0, Yasir Shah 2-0-9-0, Bilal Asif 1-1-0-0
Teams
Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Azhar Ali, Haris Sohail, Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed (capt & wk), Hasan Ali, Bilal Asif, Mohammad Abbas,Yasir Shah.
New Zealand: Jeet Raval, Tom Latham, Kane Williamson (capt), Ross Taylor, BJ Watling (wk), Henry Nicholls, Colin de Grandhomme, Ish Sodhi, Neil Wagner, Trent Boult, Ajaz Patel.