Pakistan spinners Yasir Shah and Bilal Asif shared five wickets between them on the opening day of the third and final Test against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi to give the hosts the upper hand.

New Zealand, batting first after winning the toss, reached 229-7 at stumps on the first day of the deciding Test with captain Kane Williamson hitting a typically astute 89.

While skipper Williamson fell short of a well deserved century, keeper BJ Watling finished unbeaten on 42 to carry Kiwi hopes into the second day.

Leg-spinner Shah, who needed five wickets to become the fastest to 200 Test wickets heading into the match, picked up three quick wickets to end with figures of 3-62 while off-spinner Asif snared 2-57.

Shah had trapped opener Jeet Raval lbw on 45, before rattling the stumps of Ross Taylor for nought and Henry Nicholls for one as New Zealand took lunch at 73-4 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

But Williamson kept the Pakistan bowlers at bay before seamer Hasan Ali ended his vigil. Debutant fast bowler Shaheen Afridi took the wicket of Tom Latham in his opening burst.

The series is locked at 1-1 after New Zealand won the first Test in Abu Dhabi by four runs while Sarfraz Ahmed‘s team leveled with an innings and 16 runs victory in Dubai.