The pitch was a vivid green and had spent a damp day under covers before the toss even took place, so it was little surprise that it was the most seam-friendly strip he had played international cricket on, Azhar Ali said.Pakistan have refused to blame conditions for the loss at Hagley Oval. They have repeated the Hagley surface was not out of the realm of challenges a professional cricketer can expect to face.Yet it is clear that even by New Zealands standards, the surface was especially kind to quicks.Never before, for example, have all 30 wickets in the first three innings gone to seamers, in a Test in New Zealand. And neither Yasir Shah - the No.5 Test bowler in the world - nor Todd Astle, who took a five-wicket haul on this ground three weeks ago, could pose a threat. They collectively bowled 17.3 overs and emerged wicketless. Azhars part-time legbreaks did claim one scalp, but this was after the scores had been tied, and the result was a foregone conclusion.Maybe this is the most seam-friendly pitch Ive played on in my international career, Azhar said after the match. It reminds of one or two pitches in Sri Lanka where the ball moves for a couple of hours on the first day or two but it starts to settle down. Here the movement is there for longer. Its New Zealands home conditions so we, as a professional team, just have to play on whatever we get, and thats it.That their three-day practice match at Nelson had been washed out, exacerbated difficulties for Pakistan, though they did play a long Test series in England earlier this year. That tour had been played in Englands late summer, however, while this loss has come in New Zealands spring. Pakistan were also more effective on the drier tracks in London.You usually dont see in Australia, New Zealand or England a pitch that supports the seamers so much, Azhar said. There was no pitch was like this in England. It swings around there, but not as much grass as that. But this is the pitch we got, and New Zealand played better than us.In what may be a worrying sign with a tour of Australia on the horizon, the short ball proved particularly effective against Pakistan in the second innings. Younis Khan, Babar Azam and Misbah-ul-Haq all fell to short-pitched bowling - though in dissimilar ways. The bouncer barrage on day three had been perhaps the definitive period of play in this Test.If you come to this part of the world, you do expect that, Azhar said. You expect sub-continent teams will be tested with that short stuff and we all knew that. But as time goes on, well get better, and were hopeful to turn things around quickly.Though he only made 31 runs, Azhar had played the longest innings of the Test, surviving for over four hours, to face 173 deliveries. Having had an outstanding series in West Indies, he said he felt his own form was holding up.As a batsman, I was applying myself and trying to battle out the conditions when it was tough, he said. The New Zealand bowlers held their plans really well, and held their lines long enough to create chances. We couldnt get the flow of runs going at any stage, so thats why sometimes its hard as a batsman. Youre trying to play well and do everything right, but the opposition sometimes doesnt allow you to score runs.But Im confident that everything in my game is going alright. Its just a matter of time until you start playing fluently and the runs start coming. Air Jordan 1 From China . Paul Pierce couldnt believe he missed at the end. Young scored a season-high 26 points to spark a huge effort from the leagues most productive bench, and Los Angeles beat the Brooklyn Nets 99-94 on Wednesday night after blowing a 27-point lead. Air Jordan 1 Outlet . -- New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis is retiring after a 16-year career to become the goalie coach for the Los Angeles Galaxy. https://www.cheapairjordan1outlet.com/ . The Nashville Predators were glad their captain was still on their side. Weber had a goal and two assists, and Roman Josi scored the shootout winner to lift the Predators to a 4-3 win over the Flyers on Thursday night. Wholesale Air Jordan 1 .ca NHL Power Rankings for the second straight week, ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche. Air Jordan 1 Discount . You can watch the game live on TSN at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. The Flyers had won seven of eight before dropping their last two outings on consecutive days over the weekend. Philadelphia was handed a 6-3 loss by the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday afternoon before dropping a 4-1 decision to the Rangers the following night in New York City. RENTON, Wash. -- Seattle Seahawks safety Earl Thomas will not be fined for hugging official Alex Kemp during last weeks game against the New Orleans Saints, according to a league source.Thomas recovered a fumble and ran it back for a 34-yard touchdown in the first quarter.He then hugged Kemp, who smiled before reaching into his pocket and flagging Thomas for unsportsmanlike conduct.It was a pretty interesting moment, coach Pete Carroll said this week. Were nott going to do that again.dddddddddddd. ... Earl got the chance to celebrate with an official for one time in his career.Thomas said Sunday that he didnt realize he was flagged until someone told him in the locker room after the game.Just an exciting moment, he said. Thats just how I celebrated.The Seahawks lost to the Saints 25-20. ' ' '