Pakistan vs. New Zealand, 3rd ODI, 2014: Highlights, Scorecard and Report
Pakistan (364/7) comfortably regained the lead in their series of ODIs against New Zealand (217) on Sunday, beating the Black Caps by a monstrous 147 runs in their third of five scheduled meetings and final in Sharjah.
Taking lessons from Friday's loss, Pakistan came out with a different game plan on Sunday, determined not to let the Black Caps' fast bowlers build pressure. Their efforts were greatly helped by the absence of Adam Milne, who was rested ahead of the remainder of the series.
Ahmed Shehzad powered his team with another century, already his sixth in his ODI career, via the ICC's official Twitter feed:
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The 23-year-old is swiftly establishing himself as one of the better openers in ODI cricket, and his patience made the difference on Sunday. Chasing singles rather than boundaries, he averaged just under a run per ball, scoring 113 from 120.
| Hafeez | c Ronchi | b Anderson | 33 | 34 | 26 | 5 | 1 |
| Shehzad | c Williamson | b Henry | 113 | 159 | 120 | 12 | 2 |
| Younus Khan | c Anderson | b N McCullum | 35 | 59 | 39 | 4 | 1 |
| Shafiq | b Henry | 23 | 63 | 40 | 1 | 0 | |
| Shahid Afridi | c Williamson | b McClenaghan | 55 | 55 | 26 | 6 | 3 |
| Sohail | c Williamson | b Henry | 39 | 41 | 28 | 5 | 1 |
| U Akmal | run out (Guptill) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Sarfraz Ahmed | not out | 30 | 22 | 14 | 4 | 1 | |
| Tanvir | not out | 17 | 13 | 9 | 0 | 2 | |
| Extras | 3nb 11w 0b 5lb | 19 | Extras | 3nb 11w 0b 5lb | 19 | ||
| Total | for 7 (50.0 ovs) | 364 | |||||
| Henry | 9.0 | 0 | 69 | 3 | |||
| McClenaghan | 10.0 | 0 | 69 | 1 | |||
| Anderson | 10.0 | 0 | 96 | 1 | |||
| Neesham | 10.0 | 0 | 70 | 0 | |||
| N McCullum | 10.0 | 0 | 49 | 1 | |||
| Devcich | 1.0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
Stand-in captain Shahid Afridi added 55 from 25 as Pakistan kept piling on the runs, taking advantage of the collective struggles of New Zealand's bowlers. Nathan McCullum was the only Black Cap who finished the innings with an economy under six.
The atmosphere was clearly good among the Pakistan players, as Afridi demonstrated with this little joke:
Unlike Friday's debacle, Pakistan also dealt well with adversity. Shehzad and Asad Shafiq were dismissed on back-to-back deliveries from Matt Henry, but Afridi and Haris Sohail simply continued the pace, adding another 89 from 46 as Pakistan closed the innings in style with 125 in the last 10 overs.
New Zealand's target was a daunting 365, the seventh-highest in Pakistan's ODI history, according to ESPN Cricinfo. Even the Black Caps' official Twitter feed knew the chase would be a difficult one:
Martin Guptill and Anton Devcich combined for just 12 runs, as New Zealand got off to a disastrous start to their innings. Friday's hero Kane Williamson was up next, and while he once again put together a strong performance, the Black Caps soon fell behind the required run rate.
| Guptill | c Shahid Afridi | b Irfan | 12 | 25 | 19 | 1 | 0 |
| Devcich | c Sarfraz Ahmed | b Irfan | 0 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Williamson | c and b Sohail | 46 | 81 | 52 | 6 | 0 | |
| Taylor | b Shahid Afridi | 31 | 30 | 25 | 1 | 3 | |
| Latham | c Riaz | b Shehzad | 34 | 66 | 48 | 3 | 0 |
| Anderson | c Shahid Afridi | b Riaz | 19 | 15 | 16 | 3 | 0 |
| Ronchi | b Shahid Afridi | 41 | 55 | 40 | 6 | 0 | |
| Neesham | c Riaz | b Sohail | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| N McCullum | c Younus Khan | b Sohail | 15 | 16 | 10 | 0 | 1 |
| Henry | b Shahid Afridi | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| McClenaghan | not out | 6 | 14 | 9 | 1 | 0 | |
| Extras | 0nb 5w 0b 5lb | 10 | Extras | 0nb 5w 0b 5lb | 10 | ||
| Total | all out (38.2 ovs) | 217 | |||||
| Tanvir | 5.0 | 0 | 20 | 0 | |||
| Irfan | 6.0 | 0 | 26 | 2 | |||
| Riaz | 8.0 | 0 | 62 | 1 | |||
| Shahid Afridi | 9.2 | 0 | 37 | 3 | |||
| Sohail | 7.0 | 0 | 45 | 3 | |||
| Shehzad | 3.0 | 0 | 22 | 1 |
His 46 from 52 looked like it wouldn't be good enough, and once he was caught by Sohail, the match appeared to be over. Ross Taylor, Tom Latham and Corey Anderson all tried to do their parts, but forced to take major risks, Pakistan's bowlers had a field day picking them off.
Afridi kept his economy under four, while Sohail continued taking wickets almost at will. Surprisingly, he is now Pakistan's leading run-scorer and wicket-taker after three ODIs. Not bad for a man who may not even have bowled at all had it not been for the absence of Mohammad Hafeez, via PakPassion's Saj Sadiq:
The final overs were little more than target practice for Pakistan, who closed the deal with 147 runs to spare.
Speaking to ESPN Cricinfo, Williamson emphasised Pakistan's batting as a key element in his team's loss:
"You could look at different areas but Pakistan batted brilliantly from start to finish. They hit a lot of boundaries and got a lot of balls from the middle. Our performance wasn't up to par. We didn't execute our plans well. We didn't get quite the height on our short balls. We are now going on to a different surface so we need to improve.
"
The series will now move to Abu Dhabi for the remaining two matches, and with one eye on next year's World Cup, Pakistan will have to feel good about their explosive batting and solid work from the spinners.
The pitch in Abu Dhabi won't be as forgiving as the one in Sharjah, however, giving the Black Caps' seamers a lot more to work with.
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