Shahid Afridi bombards the Kiwi bowlers
Fireworks were seen at Christchurch in the third One Day International (ODI) of the six-match series between http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 whacked the ball to all parts of the ground to help his team score 293 runs, in their alloted 50 overs.
The wicket in Christchurch is known for big runs as there is not much assistance for the bowlers in it. The shorter boundaries also allow the batsmen to get runs quickly.
However, the stand-in Kiwi captain, Ross http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Taylor-c92915 elected to field first after winning the toss today. There appeared to be some moisture beneath the surface of the pitch and that seemed to influence Taylor's decision.
Taylor's move seemingly paid off. The start was just ideal for the Kiwi team as they got the wicket of the flamboyant Ahmed Shehzad; the opener went without scoring.
The wicketkeeper batsman, Kamran Akmal was promoted up the order as he was sent as the first-drop. This move didn’t work in favour of the visitors as Akmal was unable to trouble the bowlers.
Akmal was out after scoring 6 runs and the total was only 8 at that time. This brought Younis Khan at the crease, however, the veteran middle-order batsman wasn’t able to score much runs either as he was dismissed after scoring a struggling 12 runs off 22
balls.
Pakistan were struggling with three of their batsmen out for just 56 runs but http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972 and Mohammad Hafeez steadied the innings with a solid 94-run partnership. Misbah, not surprisingly, failed to carry onto the start he got and got out after scoring
a slow 35 runs from 64 balls.
Hafeez didn’t lose focus and constructed a brilliant century for his team to provide a platform for the middle-order batsmen to score freely in the death overs. Umar Akmal didn’t waste any time and started scoring quick runs and the downfall of Hafeez after
making 115 runs brought Afridi at the crease.
Pakistan scored 126 runs in their last 10 overs including 72 runs off the 5 overs of power-play courtesy some explosive batting from Afridi. The flamboyant all-rounder scored 50 off just 19 balls to equal the record of Brendon McCullum for the fastest fifty
in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754.
Afridi scored 65 runs off just 25 balls and he got good support from Umar Akmal as he got 44 runs in 29 balls. Together, both players hit seven 6s and nine 4s in their innings.
Kyle http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mills-c76321, Hamish Bennett and Tim Southee took two wickets each for their team in the match.
The blistering performances from Afridi and Umar will give a lot of confidence to the bowlers and Pakistan will be looking forward to bounce back in the series with a victory today.
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