Matt Henry puts New Zealand in charge in the Karachi Test.

New Zealand took the lead in the second Test against Pakistan in Karachi with a tenacious final score and disciplined bowling on Tuesday.

The Black Caps cemented their position by making 449 in the first innings, a score achieved thanks to a century stand for the last wicket between bowlers Matt Henry and Ajaz Patel.

Henry had a career best 68 runs using 81 balls, while Patel also had his best Test score with 35 runs. They added 104 runs for the tenth wicket and took New Zealand after 400 runs at the National Stadium.

With the ball, both men struck again, while skipper Babar Azam came out in a gharib net with Imam-ul-Haq in the last over before Pakistan ended the day with a score of 154-3.

The pitch did little for the bowlers, but Pakistan dished themselves by bringing out Captain Azam, the best batsman in the team. Imam Michael Bracewell drove to the halfway mark and saw Azam caught at his end for a third run attempt.

Imam did not lose with 74 points, and Saud Shakil, who took nearly an hour to get his first round off his 42nd ball and also survived a wrong catch, was not eliminated with 13 points.

Shafiq was the first Pakistani bowler to fall when he fired a short shot from fielder Henry straight into Patel’s hands for 19. Shan Masood continued his poor form, as spinner Patel snipped into Devon Conway (20).

The day really belonged to Henry and Patel as they combined for New Zealand’s 345-9 victory.

Tom Blundell, 30, had completed 50 off 103 balls with six fours before he was dismissed cleanly for 51 by Abrar in a delivery that came off the right-hand and stayed a bit low.

Tim Southee (10) managed to overturn a lbw decision against Hassan Ali but was dismissed by Abrar before Patel tangled with Henry, who replaced Neil Wagner for New Zealand’s only change to the side who drew the first game.

Henry had eight runs and two sixes in his career best innings, surpassing his previous record against Australia in Christchurch in 2016 by six.

“Very happy with the way we did our job,” said Henry. “First of all it was about scoring goals and trying to move forward. And then once we changed the field we tried to take some time and do well with the ball.”

Patel also broke his own previous record of 20 in a Test, against England last year, before being the last to fall, caught on spinner Abrar Ahmed.

Ahmed topped the scorers list with a score of 4-149 while Nasim Shah (3-71) and Agha Salman (3-75) were the other top scorers for the host.

Hassan did not pass his first successful exam since last July. He went 21 scoreless innings for 72 innings.

As was the case in the drawn first Test where the New Zealanders were denied victory in the fifth innings due to poor lighting, Pakistan too were on the defensive in this Test and will have to put in a massive effort in the first set to put pressure on the visitors.

“There is no doubt that the last-wicket partnership in the 100-run race was of no use to us,” said Muhammad Yousuf, the Pakistan batsman’s coach. “It shouldn’t have happened, but sometimes the last wickets get tough, you get excited and wherever you play they run. It’s not that they bat, but they bat well.”

This is the second and final match in the Test series before the two teams face off in a three-match ODI series, which will again be played in Karachi.