http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Green-c60723 Shirts bag consolation win
At last, Pakistan tasted success in its tour of New Zealand as the Green Shirts defeated the Black Caps by a massive margin of 103 runs in the last match of the T20 series at AMI Stadium, Christchurch. This would serve only as a consolation victory as the
series has already been sealed by New Zealand. However, it was a brilliant team effort by the Pakistan team and should give them confidence for the Test matches and the ODI series ahead.
Shahid Afridi won the toss and decided to bat first on a flat track which was ideally suited for the shortest form of the sport. Pakistan dropped Shoaib Akhtar and Umar Gul who were extremely expensive in the first couple of matches and drafted Abdur Rehman
and Tanvir Ahmed in the playing eleven. On the other hand, Kiwis also made a couple of changes to their line-up as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Dean-Brownlie-c1349.
The skipper Afridi decided to move himself down the order and allowed the specialist openers to start the Pakistan innings, which turned out to be a brilliant decision as the visitors posted 183 runs in 20 overs. Pakistan was off to a flier as Ahmed Shehzad
and Mohammad Hafeez played some delightful shots and scored their runs at almost 10 runs per over. To compliment the performance of the openers, Abdul Razzaq and Umar Akmal put the icing on the cake and helped Pakistan end the innings on a high.
Ahmed Shehzad remained the top-scorer for Pakistan with a brilliant half-century as he scored 54 runs off just 34 balls with the help of 10 stunning boundaries. Abdul Razzaq showed the glimpses of his abilities with the bat as he stunned the Kiwis with his
34 runs unbeaten knock which came off just 11 deliveries. He struck 3 fours and as many towering sixes. Mohammad Hafeez also scored 34 runs with the help of 5 fours and a six.
James Franklin was the pick of the bowlers for New Zealand as he took 2 wickets for only 12 runs in his 3 overs. Nathan McCullum, Tim Southee and Adam Milne picked up a scalp each.
Chasing a huge target of 184 runs, the Kiwis were in trouble from the word go as they were 4 wickets down with only 3 runs on the board. The Black Caps were bowled for only 80 runs in just 15.5 overs. Scott Styris was the only batsman to have scored in double
figures as he scored 45 runs which were more than half of the team’s total. He consumed 34 balls and struck 6 fours and a six in the losing cause. The top four Kiwi batsmen failed to even open their accounts.
Abdul Razzaq shined with the bowl as well with 3 wickets for only 13 runs in 4 overs. Shahid Afridi ran through the tail-enders as he picked up 4 wickets. Abdur Rehman and Tanvir Ahmed also took a wicket each. Such was the dominance of Pakistan bowlers that
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 didn't had to use his premier off-spinner, Saeed Ajmal.
Abdul Razzaq was declared Man of the Match for his all-round performance. Although, Kiwis won the series 2-1 but it was an emphatic victory by Pakistan and was more like the team which is rated as one of the best in this format.
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