Black Caps win emotional Test in UAE

New Zealand players harboured a sense of pride, but little joy following one of their most emphatic Test cricket wins.

The Black Caps secured an emotion-filled defeat of Pakistan by an innings and 80 runs inside four days in Sharjah to square the three-Test series 1-1.

The result, which lifts New Zealand one place to seventh in the world rankings, was one of their more remarkable results after being outplayed on the first day.

The death of Australian batsman Phillip Hughes on Thursday and the postponement of the second day's play seemed to spark a turnaround as New Zealand dominated the next three days' play.

Captain Brendon McCullum, who scored 202 in the first innings, said Hughes was on their mind throughout the remainder of a Test they said had felt "irrelevant".

"It hit the guys pretty hard and we tried to stay as close as we could as a group," he said.

"We tried to spend a lot of time together and tried to talk through stuff and share one another's thoughts.

"It certainly wasn't easy. I'm proud of the way the boys bounced back under trying circumstances."

Both teams barely showed emotion when taking wickets or reaching milestones.

Veteran spinner Daniel Vettori says a sense of unity enveloped the New Zealanders when learning of Hughes' death after he was struck by a bouncer during a domestic game in Sydney.

"We felt like he (Hughes) was one of us and we mourned him as a teammate."

The tourists added 53 runs to their first innings score on Sunday, dismissed for 690 after bowlers Mark Craig (65) and Tim Southee (50) both contributed to a tally built around McCullum's belligerent knock and Kane Williamson's 192.

It is New Zealand's highest Test score, surpassing the 680-8 declared against India earlier this year.

Pakistan were reduced to 4-36 after seamer Trent Boult (4-38) claimed three cheap scalps with the new ball.

They never recovered, despite 136 from Asad Shafiq, dismissed midway through the final session.

Offspinner Craig was named man of the match, taking three second-innings wickets to give him Test figures of 10-203.

Like his teammates, he found it hard to rejoice.

"It was hard being out there playing," Craig said.

"The boys just tried to stick together and wickets just happened. Not thinking about bowling and just letting the ball go was a big help."

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul Haq admits his team were outplayed after reaching the comfort of 281-3 on the first day.

He says their batting lacked concentration on day two, in the wake of Hughes' death, and they had no answer to New Zealand's aggressive batting.

"It was special batting by Brendon McCullum and that was amazing to say they were almost scoring at a run rate of over six so that really pushed us on the back foot and took the game away from us."

Pakistan won the first Test by 248 runs in Abu Dhabi while the second Test ended in a draw.

Both teams now play two Twenty20 internationals in Dubai on Thursday and Friday which will be followed by five one-day internationals.