Pakistan hold nerves to edge past New Zealand
Pakistan defeated New Zealand by 5 wickets in the 7th game of Super 12 and edged closer to the semifinals. They won the toss and decided to send New Zealand in for batting. Pakistan went with an unchanged XI from the game against India while the New Zealand, playing their first game went with an XI having 2 front line pacers and 2 front line spinners. Here's how the game spanned out:
New Zealand Innings:
Martin Guptill and Daryl Mitchell opened the batting for New Zealand. They got off to a slow start to their innings scoring 21 runs in the first 4 overs. Shaheen Afridi started off from where he left in the last match and bowled a maiden over up front.
The 5th over from Hasan Ali costed 15 runs and New Zealand looked to gain momentum. However, in the next over, Harris Rauf gave Pakistan their first break through, dismissing Martin Guptill for 17(20). There after Kane Williamson joined Daryl Mitchell to take the innings forward.
Daryl Mitchell was looking good and hit a six in the first ball of 9th over off Imad Wasim, who was bowling his last over in the innings. But Imad had the last laugh dismissing Daryl Mitchell in the next ball for 27(20). James Neesham was sent in next and Imad finished his quota of 4 overs giving away 24 runs and picking up 1 wicket.
Mohammad Hafeez was the given the ball in 10th over and he dismissed James Neesham in his very first ball. Devon Conway joined Kane Williamson and both of them tried to steady the ship. Initially they took time but soon they started playing attacking shots taking the score to 90 in 13 overs. Shadab Khan was taken for 15 in his last over after conceding 4 runs from his first 2 overs.
New Zealand lost their key man Kane Williamson in the first ball of 14th over owing to some brilliant piece of fielding from Hasan Ali. Williamson tried to sneak in a cheeky single but direct hit from Hasan Ali, who was himself bowling, found him short. Kane Williamson scored 25 off 25 balls. Glenn Philips joined Devon Conway and found runs to had to come by.
New Zealand crawled to 116 in 17 overs in hope of a late burst but Harris Rauf's double strikes of Devon Conway and Glenn Phillips in the 18th over ended their hopes. Shaheen Afridi and Harris Rauf bowled the 19th and 20th over giving away only 15 runs and picking a wicket each. New Zealand finished with 134/8 in 20 overs. Harris Rauf returned with splendid figures of 4-0-22-4.
Pakistan Innings:
Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan started the chase cautiously scoring only 28 runs in the first five overs. Tim Southee removed the inform Babar Azam in the first ball of 6th over for 9(11) and there after Fakhar Zaman joined Mohammad Rizwan in the middle.
It was a painful stay for Fakhar Zaman in the crease and finally he got out to Ish Sodhi scoring just 11 off 17 balls. Mohammad Hafeez came in and started playing attackingly but got out to Mitchell Santner. Then Ish Sodhi removed Mohammad Rizwan for 33(34) leaving the Pakistan in trouble. Shoaib Malik and Imad Wasim then started taking time to get set for an onslaught at end. But when Trent Boult removed Imad Wasim with Pakistan reeling at 87/5 in 14.5 overs, it seemed New Zealand had sealed the match.
With Pakistan needing 37 from 24 balls, Tim Southee came into bowl. Asif Ali hit him for consecutive sixes off the second and third deliveries respectively, but Tim Southee came back strongly to bowl 3 dot balls. Pakistan required 24 from 3 overs.
Kane Williamson then took a huge gamble by giving the ball to Mitchell Santner to bowl the 18th over. Mitchell Santner was taken for 15 runs in the over with Shoaib Malik hitting a four and a six. The game was now sealed for Pakistan and Asif Asif hit a six off Trent Boult in the next over followed by a double to finish it for Pakistan. Asif Ali finished with 27(12)* while Shoaib Malik scored 26(20)*.
Harris Rauf was adjudged player of the match for his 4 wickets giving away only 22 runs in 4 overs.
With this win and remaining games against Afghanistan, Scotland and Namibia, Pakistan has almost sealed their semi final berth. The bowlers have delivered two back to back great performances. In the batting , after the show of openers in the first match against India , this time around, the finishers played the major role in the victory. Shoaib Malik , who was initially left out of the squad and later came in as a replacement, has showed again that experience counts while Asif Ali has proven his worth in this Pakistan line-up.
Though New Zealand lost the match , they did put up a great fight. All the bowlers bowled well , especially the bowling of Ish Sodhi is going to give them a lot of confidence. However, their batters need to improve a lot and they will really find it difficult to score in the UAE tracks given their ability to play in slow and turning tracks.
Interesting Facts:
1) Pakistan recorded their 13th consecutive win in T20Is in UAE.
2)With the wicket of Babar Azam, Tim Southee became the third bowler to claim 100 wickets in T20Is.
3)Tim Southee became the first pacer to bowl 300 overs in T20Is.
4) Shoaib Malik is now the leading run scorer for Pakistan in World T20 with 573 runs.
5)Harris Rauf(4/22) registered his career best bowling figures in T20Is.
