Arthur calls on beaten Pakistan to toughen up for Tests

Disgruntled coach Mickey Arthur demanded his players toughen up and seize key moments in Test matches after sloppy batting handed New Zealand an away series win over Pakistan for the first time in 49 years.

New Zealand pulled off a come-from-behind 123-run victory in the third and final Test in Abu Dhabi on Friday to end their long wait for a 2-1 series win.

Pakistan had dismissed the Kiwis for 153 in the first innings of the first Test in Abu Dhabi only to lose by a narrow four-run margin.

Pakistan bounced back by winning the second Test in Dubai by an innings and four runs but again failed to build a sizeable lead in the first innings of the third Test, a fact Arthur believes cost them the series.

"We missed opportunities and despite winning most of the sessions in the two losses we could not grab the moments to force a win," Pakistan coach Arthur told AFP.

"It was our series to win but we ended up as the losing side and that's highly disappointing."
"But we need to be tougher in the crucial moments and that comes to us grabbing moments and being tough and we could not do this in this series which is disappointing."
He added: "I will defend Asad and Azhar to the hilt. Asad is a wonderful player. I rate him very highly and I still feel his best days are ahead of him."
"We need to nail down our good positions which we are not doing and that's the problem area."