Tom Latham, Kane Williamson stretch NZ lead past 100 after Conway’s duck

The first session of day four saw Pakistan all out for 408 inside one over, after which the pair of Tom Latham and Kane Williamson lifted New Zealand to 76 for 1. Throw in the 41-run first-innings lead, and New Zealand are now ahead by 117 runs with five sessions left in the Test match

There were three reviews in the first session, off Abrar Ahmed‘s bowling, but none of them earned a wicket. Williamson, batting on 7 on both occasions, was deemed not out by on-field umpire Alex Wharf, but Babar Azam went up unsuccessfully on both occasions leaving Pakistan with only one more review left in the innings. The third occasion was when Wharf adjudged Latham out with Abrar coming around the wicket, but replays showed that the impact on the pad was outside off stump.

Both batters progressed slowly in the session, in part due to the first-ball dismissal of Devon Conway. Left-arm seamer Mir Hamza got his first delivery of the innings to angle into Conway, and flicked his pad before crashing into the stumps. Latham and Williamson were watchful in the first hour with Hamza and Naseem Shah bowling tight lines. The runs began to flow once the ball got older. Both batters used the sweep to good effect and Williamson was more adventurous coming down the pitch. Latham was unbeaten on 37 at lunch with Williamson on 29 and their partnership reading 71.