Pakistan edge out New Zealand in Napier thriller
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 in the fourth match of the six match series, at the McLean Park in Napier, a venue that has not been a great one for the tourists. Yet they buried the ghost with a fine all-round performance that took them home in the 49th over of their innings.
The hosts won the toss and got off to a blazing start racing to 40 for no loss in the 7th over of their innings, at this juncture the hosts stuttered losing five wickets by the time the score reached 79.
Martin Guptill, Jamie How, Ross http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Taylor-c92915, Scott Styris and Kane Williamson were all sent packing and the hosts were staring down the barrel, with the cream of their batting line-up back in the pavilion.
At this stage the pair of James Franklin and Brendon McCullum resurrected their team’s innings, the two batted with great deal of responsibility taking the total past the 140 runs mark.
Brendon scored a breezy 37 off 39 balls, before feathering a catch to a jubilant Kamran Akmal behind the stumps.
His brother Nathan then increased the impetus of the innings, with the assistance of James Franklin, and later Daniel Vettori, the hosts reached a total of 262/7 in the allotted 50 overs.
Franklin scored 62 off 75 balls, while Nathan McCullum remained undefeated on 53 off 58 balls, his innings included 5 fours and 1 six.
For the men in green, Wahab Riaz claimed three wickets, while http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482, Mohammad Hafeez and Abdul Razzaq claimed a scalp each.
Pakistan stuttered after a bright start. Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Hafeez and Ahmed Shehzad were dismissed with the score at 84/3 in the 17th over. Shehzad scored a run a ball 42 with the help of 6 fours and 1 six.
The men in green were rescued by the seasoned pair of Younis Khan and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972, the two added 89 runs for the 4th wicket.
Younis was run out while attempting a risky single; the former captain scored 42 runs.
The tourists decided to take the power play in the 43rd over of the innings; as usual, they panicked in search of some quick runs. Umar Akmal and Shahid Afridi were both dismissed in the first over of the field restrictions.
Abdul Razzaq scored a quick fire 23 off 18 ball, yet was dismissed with 26 needed of the last three overs.
Misbah-Ul-Haq scored big runs off the 48th over bowled by Scott Styris, while the match was finished off in the penultimate over when Sohail Tanvir laid into Tim Southee scoring 14 runs, as the tourists cantered to a 2-1 series lead with one over of their innings left.
Tags: