Curtains finally fell on the Dubai Test on Tuesday (November 27) when Yasir Shah's legbreak accounted for the last New Zealand wicket in the evening session of the fourth day. The fate of the match had already been decided yesterday. But, it remained to be seen for how long New Zealand would keep Pakistan waiting.
It was befitting that Yasir staged the final act. This had been his match. With almost every wicket that he took, records tumbled. Over the course of the third day's play, Yasir became the only Pakistani to bag 10 wickets in a day and the only bowler to record a century of wickets in the UAE. When he removed the last New Zealand batsmen on Day four, he equalled a Pakistan record as he became the only second bowler, after his country's current prime minister - Imran Khan, to take 14 wickets in a Test.
"It was fantastic to watch," said Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur. "He [Yasir] had a big performance in him. In the first innings there was a spell of about half an hour which was some of the best leg-spin bowling you will ever see. The drift, the pace, the spin. It was phenomenal, it was incredible bowling. Fourteen wickets in a Test match is superb."
The key for Pakistan was to leave behind the upsetting four-run defeat in Abu Dhabi. Some of the talks included the need for players to have sessions with sports psychologists after they faltered in a low-score chase for the third time in 18 months. But, in the end, it turned out that all they had to do was to resort to their old methods.