NZ vs. Pak, 3rd T20: Abdul Razzaq’s all-round performance secures consolation win for Pakistan
Abdul Razzaq’s all-round performance helped Pakistan secure a 103-run consolation victory over New Zealand in the third (and last) Twenty20I. The T20 series is already over for Pakistan and a consolation win was necessary for them
to lift their spirits for the upcoming One-Day series. The team should take heart in the fact that some of their prominent batsmen came to (life?) form in the last match. Batting first, Pakistan gave a competitive target of 184 to New Zealand, and the side
was equally professional in their bowling, dismissing the Kiwis for just 80 runs.
Pakistan started their innings well and their openers (Ahmed Shehzad and Mohammad Hafeez) contributed an 81-run partnership for the first wicket. Both openers played well and scored whenever they got the opportunity. Ahmed Shehzad
batted superbly for his 54 (off 34 balls), playing a lot of drives off Tim Southee and Adam Milne and not allowing them to settle in their early overs. A good start was just what the doctor ordered for Pakistan, as it has been observed in the past that whenever
Pakistan has started well in their innings they have managed to score a good total. The bowlers were out of sorts in the match and it seemed as though New Zealand was playing with a totally different bowling line-up.
Shehzad’s 54-run knock included 10 boundaries. Mohammad Hafeez (34) batted in his usual style and scored runs all around the wicket. New Zealand had their first success of the day when Hafeez tried to play a huge shot off of James
Franklin’s bowling and got caught in the extra cover region by skipper Ross Taylor.
In the 11th over, Franklin struck again for New Zealand when he trapped Shehzad leg before for 54. It was a good situation for New Zealand, as they had an opportunity to make things difficult for the Pakistani batsmen
and halt their scoring rate. Their plan worked to an extent as Nathan McCullum again delivered for New Zealand and bowled a tidy spell. McCullum again proved his point of building pressure through consistent bowling, when he dismissed Younis Khan for 5 and
Asad Shafiq for 8 runs. Pakistan lost two wickets in quick succession and were reduced to 106-4 in the 14th over. Then came the real acceleration for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755: their middle order posted 77 runs off of the last 37 balls.
Abdul Razzaq was the real hero in this acceleration as he played a beautiful knock of 34 off just 11 balls. It was a typical Razzaq innings, as he didn’t feel one percent hesitant in going after the Kiwi bowlers and struck 3 sixes
and 3 boundaries off their bowling. He was well supported by Umar Akmal, who made 30 runs off 19 balls, and also contributed a lot in taking Pakistan’s total to a challenging position of 183.
New Zealand in response had a disastrous start to their innings and found themselves struggling at 4-3 (openers Jesse Ryder and Martin Guptill, and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Dean-Brownlie-c1349) by their fourth over - their top three batsmen went for a duck.
Tanvir Ahmed, who was playing his first match of the series, bowled well and also took one wicket in his spell (Ryder’s). Guptill, who batted well in the series, was the first casualty of New Zealand when he edged one to point off Razzaq’s bowling in the 4th
ball of the 1st over. Ryder continued his poor form with the bat, when he went for a pull off Razzaq’s bowling and got caught by Ahmed Shehzad.
Razzaq took all the important wickets of the New Zealand side, including the wickets of James Franklin and Ross http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Taylor-c92915. Scott Styris proved to be the sole resistance as he batted with a lot of heart and made 45 runs off just 34
balls. The asking rate was always a threatening factor for the Kiwis and in the end it was too much for their batsmen to chase. Afridi took 4 wickets in his spell and ran through the lower order of the Kiwi batting line-up. In the end, the entire http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754
side was dismissed for 80 in 15 overs. Razzaq and Afridi were the pick of the bowlers, and for his magnificent contribution with both bat and ball, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Razzaq-c84421 was named man-of-the-match.
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