http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 vs Pakistan- day 4
All seems to be set for Pakistan, on the final day of the 2nd test, to win their first test series in 4 years. The Black Caps have given Pakistan a target of 274 to win, as the Kiwis were dismissed for 293 in their 2nd innings. All
3 possibilities still exist and the outcome will depend hugely on the approach of the Pakistan team. If Pakistan decide to go for the win, they may be inclined to play some needless shots and lose wickets easily. On the other hand, going for a draw can go
terribly wrong if they lose quick wickets and panic.
Coach Waqar Younis made it clear that his team would go for the win, but he make those comments before the 4th day's play, and could not predict how much his team would be chasing.
One cannot help but feel that the result of the 2nd Test would go a long way towards deciding who captains Pakistan in the World Cup, next month. Pakistan Cricket Board announced the final 15 for the World Cup, earlier on Tuesday, but did not
name a captain, and the two options available are Misbah ul Haq and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482.
The 4th day at http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Wellington-c864 began with the hosts at 9 for no loss and trailing Pakistan by 11 runs. Openers Martin Guptil and Brendon McCullum took the cautious approach in the first session, and made sure that did not lose any wickets due to the
early morning moisture.
The first session belonged to the home team, and the openers took the score to 106. The first breakthrough for Pakistan came in the 2nd session, when McCullum was caught off the bowling of Abdur Rehman for a hard earned 64. Kane Williamson came
in at number 3 and gave good support to Guptil. The two added 46 runs before Williamson was caught behind off the bowling of Tanvir Ahmed, for 15 runs. In the very next over, Martin Guptil was also sent back when he was given LBW for 73, off the bowling of
Rehman
The man in form, Ross Taylor, who scored 78 in the first innings, continued the good work. While wickets kept tumbling on the other end, Jessi Ryder put on 26 runs for the 4th wicket before the left hander was cleaned up by Muhammad Hafeez for
17 runs. Freshly back in the team, James Franklin did not last long as well- he was Hafeez's 2nd victim and could manage just 6 runs.
Taylor was fast running out of partners, but he stayed calm and continued to add runs. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Reece-Young-c2302, one of the heroes of the first innings, looked to be a promising partner. The wicketkeeper scored 20 runs before he was caught off the bowling of Abdur Rehman.
With the score past 250, Pakistan knew they had to clean up the innings quick if they were to have a good chance of winning the match. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 cleaned up the
rest of the tail enders without much damage, and New Zealand were bowled out for 293 runs, handing Pakistan a target of 274 runs to win the match and the series on the final day.
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