Black Caps ready to play 'the long game' – William Somerville

While Pakistan struck back with two wickets late in the day, Somerville’s four-wicket haul on debut caught the eye.

The off-spinner moved back to New Zealand this year from Australia, having previously played Sheffield Shield cricket for New South Wales. While he missed out on selection in the first two Tests, he has delivered so far on debut, with his wickets playing a key role in having Pakistan collapse from 286/3 to 348 all out.

Somerville shared his delight at playing a starring role for his side in such a key Test, with the series on the line.

“It’s a bit of a whirlwind I suppose,” said the 34-year old. “It’s incredibly enjoyable to be playing my first Test – nice that we’ve got ourselves into a decent position coming into day four tomorrow.”

While Somerville found bowling to centurions Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq “challenging,” and praised both batsmen for their “beautiful” knocks, he explained his strategy for success on the slow-paced Abu Dhabi pitch.

“I find I have to bowl a bit faster into the wicket to try and challenge the defence a bit more which is harder on the shoulder, but it’s enjoyable mixing my flight and pace to try and catch the batsman off guard that way.”

While New Zealand still trail by 48 runs with Somerville at the crease as nightwatchman, he believes his side can still conjure up a victory, having triumphed in dramatic fashion in the first Test at the same ground.

“We’ll just be playing the long game and try and get as many [runs] as we can.

“It’s not easy to chase here, we know that, so it’s a good toss for us to have won. We’ve fought our way back into the match which we’re really happy with but still a big couple of days for us to come in this Test.”