Dubai: Pakistan skipper Misbah Ul Haq and New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum are delighted that though the Dubai Test match did not produce a result they played in a good Test match.

McCullum, who sportingly declared the second innings setting a target of 261 runs for Pakistan to win said: “I thought it was pretty fair declaration and I think there was enough there for the batting team to stay interested if they had a good start. There was enough time for us too if we knocked off their top order reasonably quickly to get ten wickets on a weary track and so I feel it was a fair declaration and from our point of view we want to win Test matches. I thought it was a brilliant Test match. It’s a real good advertisement for a Test match.”

Misbah too believes that his team could have won the Test match. “We could say we could have done a little better in this game but we missed a few chances in the first innings that really made a big difference in the whole game. When you are playing in Dubai specially first innings of both teams really will make a big difference. If you could have checked the lead in the first innings it could have helped us in the whole game. So in the first innings we let them score more than 400 runs and that was a major difference and today we were chasing well but those three quick wickets really made the difference. We were looking that if we could score could reach round about 150 runs in 50 overs with six to seven wickets in hands then we could have gone after them but those three wicket of Shan Masood, Azhar Ali and myself really put us on the back foot for a while and that really changed the result.”

While McCullum hailed his star performer and century maker Ross Taylor, Misbah praised Sarfraz Ahmad who through his century helped his team reach the target.

“Ross’s innings was brilliant. I think as the game was teetering and as I mentioned before that probably we go into shells in such situations and for him to come out despite lean on runs in the series, to be able to play with so much confidence and put some pressure back on Pakistan was brilliant. It was great to see him score hundred and get us to a position where we can have a bold declaration. I am delighted for Ross and delighted for boys, as far as spinners are concerned they bowled well without a great deal of luck,” said McCullum.

Misbah feels Sarfraz can play a major role in Test matches and can become their permanent wicketkeeper. “I think the way he [Sarfraz] is batting he is really improving himself and he is handling the pressure very well. He is getting better and better day by the day and it is up to him to carry on that form because wicketkeeper is always the main man, especially in Test cricket and the kind of performance he is giving with the bat at No. 7 has lifted the team. Now it is up to him how he carries himself because he got a huge responsibility because wicketkeeper has not only to bat but also keep and he need to do a lot of extra work and I think the kind of guy he is he can really do that and he could be really be the main man for Pakistan in future.”