Sharjah: Paceman Trent Boult took four wickets as New Zealand beat Pakistan by an innings and 80 runs to win the third and final Test within four days and level the series 1-1.

Pakistan, who won the first match of the series in Abu Dhabi by 248 runs, were all out for 259 in their second innings in Sharjah on Sunday.

Asad Shafiq staged a lone battle for Pakistan and completed his fifth Test hundred with an aggressive 137 off 148 balls but ran out of partners in the end.

On a docile pitch at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium where New Zealand posted their highest total in Tests, the 25-year-old Boult extracted enough movement and pace to rattle the Pakistan top order.

Shan Masood (4) edged Boult to Tim Southee at slip in the third over, while the paceman bowled Azhar Ali (6) with the last delivery of his fourth over and then returned to dismiss Younus Khan for a duck leg before with the first ball of his next.

Off-spinner Mark Craig, who took seven wickets in the first innings, continued to punish Pakistan by dismissing opener Mohammad Hafeez and captain Misbah-ul Haq.

Hafeez (24) looked solid before he fell in the second over after lunch, offering a tame return catch to the 27-year-old Craig. Misbah (12) then reviewed the umpire’s bat-pad decision off the same bowler but failed to overturn it.

Sarfraz Ahmed (37) took the attack to the New Zealand bowlers and added a quickfire 73 for the sixth wicket with Shafiq.

But leg-spinner Ish Sodhi, who saw Sarfraz dropped twice off his bowling in one over, took out the wicketkeeper-batsman and Yasir Shah (10) to take New Zealand closer to victory.

New Zealand’s veteran spinner Daniel Vettori said on Sunday he didn’t feel it appropriate to call time on his Test career after the tragic death of Phillip Hughes who was like a teammate.

Vettori said he was unlikely to add to his record 112 caps for New Zealand — he also played one Test for ICC World XI in 2005 — but did not officially announce it.

“I suppose the current timing, what’s happened in the last few days, it doesn’t feel appropriate to make a big statement, so I thought that I'd just sit back and enjoy the Test win as much as I can,” said Vettori.