Pakistan vs. New Zealand, 3rd Test: Day 1 Highlights, Scorecard and Report

New Zealand's Daniel Vettori returned from the Test wilderness to take a wicket, but the first day of the third match of the series belonged to Pakistan.

Vettori made his return after two years out of the long-form of the game, and in so doing became his country’s most-capped player with 112 appearances.

He claimed a wicket in his second spell, but the day belonged to Mohammad Hafeez who racked up his seventh Test century as Pakistan closed the day in a position of authority at 281 for 3.

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Minutes	Balls
Mohammad Hafeez	not out	178		262
Shan Masood	b Craig	12	71	57
Azhar Ali	c Taylor b Craig	39	113	102
Younis Khan	lbw b Vettori	5	20	13
Misbah-ul-Haq	not out	38		107
Extras	(lb 4, w 4, nb 1)	9
Total	(3 wickets; 90 overs)	281
Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
TA Boult	17	5	47	0
TG Southee	18	3	43	0
DL Vettori	12	4	28	1
CJ Anderson	12	4	28	0
MD Craig	16	3	67	2
IS Sodhi	15	2	64	0

Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq had no hesitation in electing to bat first on a Sharjah pitch that looked totally devoid of life.

Hafeez looked entirely at ease from the outset, stroking the ball into gaps with great regularity.

His innings was in contrast to fellow opener Shan Masood who scratched around for 12 off 57 balls before being bowled by Mark Craig.

Azhar Ali looked in good touch, but his innings was ended on 39 when he chased a wide ball and edged Craig to Ross Taylor in the slips.

New Zealand spinners bowled plenty of overs, and their main man returned after lunch to prise out star batsman Younis Khan.

"

Good to see Vettori playing for NZ again. And to get the wicket of Younis Khan on his return, well played #PakvNZ

— Ibrahim (@IBBY_R) November 26, 2014"

Younis had spent the whole of the autumn dominating bowlers, but he was undone by the drift of Vettori and was trapped lbw for five—his only single-figure score of this home campaign.

But from the moment Younis fell with the score on 160 for 3, the day belonged to Pakistan—and Hafeez in particular.

His century came up before tea, and he carried on his progress in the evening session.

"

Mohammad Hafeez 154* Highest Test score by a batsman at Sharjah previous - Younis Khan 153 vs WI 2002 #PakvNZ pic.twitter.com/m44dMmJnr0

— Bilal Chughtai (@BilalChughtaiF1) November 26, 2014"

Ably assisted by Misbah, Hafeez advanced to 178 not out—despite the best efforts of the New Zealand bowlers who did their best to extract what bit of life their was in the pitch.

Pakistan look well placed to dominate on day two and with only a draw needed to secure the series, they are likely to bat, bat and bat some more.