LAHORE (APP): The all-round New Zealand defeated Pakistan in all departments of the game as they restricted the Green Shirts to 252 runs and successfully defended a commanding total of 330 in the first match of the tri-nation series at Gaddafi stadium here on Saturday night.
The Green Shirts were bundled out for 252-9 runs in 47.5 overs as Haris Rauf did not come out to bat after he had developed some pain in the ribs and could only bowl 6.3 overs. New Zealand scored 330-6 after they won the toss and elected to bat first on a batting friendly pitch at the Gaddafi stadium with the sun blazing down.
If the Kiwi batsmen lifted their team out of the mire, the bowlers snuffed out life from the Pakistan batting line-up. The spinners claimed six wickets in their 26 overs and conceded mere 112 runs. Player of the match Glenn Phillips and two other all-rounders Michael Bracewell and Daryl Mitchell were the main contributors to the their team’s comprehensive win against the hosts Pakistan.
During a practice session at the LCCA grounds a days ago, a reporter had questioned the wisdom of playing too many all-rounders in the team and the New Zealand bowling coach Jacob Oram had responded that he saw them as multi-skilled cricketers who could deliver the team in batting or bowling on the given day.
Glenn Phillips repaid the faith of the team management in all-rounders and hit a spectacular maiden ODI century to lift the team spirits and raise a total of 330 although they looked to hardly reach 300 runs by the 35th over of the New Zealand innings. The all-rounder Phillips smashed an unbeaten maiden century to propel New Zealand to a mammoth total and set Pakistan a target of 331 in the first match of the tri-nation series at the Gaddafi stadium on Saturday.
Phillips plundered Pakistani bowlers for seven 6s and six 4s in a commanding innings of 106 not out which turned the tables on Pakistan. The Kiwis were modestly placed at 135-4 when Tom Latham fell to Haris Rauf in the 28th over. He put the Pakistan fats to the sword as he smashed 68 runs of the last 21 balls, he faced including 25 runs off Shaheen Shah Afridi’s last over of the innings.
Phillips scored a useful partnership of 54 runs with Michael Bracewell but it was the vital partnership of 95 runs between Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell which provided stability to the New Zealand innings after they lost both the openers for 39 runs by the eight over of their innings. Kane Williamson played a responsible knock of 58 runs off 89 balls while all-rounder Daryl Mitchel struck 81 runs with two boundaries and four 6s.
He also picked the all-important wicket of explosive Pakistani opener Fakhar Zaman who looked all set to score fourth 100 against New Zealand and surpass former opener Saeed Anwar’s record of three centuries against New Zealand.
In the field, Phillips took a flying catch at mid-wicket to dismiss Tayyab Tahir off Matt Henry and catch culminated a promising partnership between Tayyab Tahir and Salman Ali Agha. The duo stitched 53 runs 9.3 overs and his dismissal stifled all hopes of some respectable total.
The all-rounder captain Mitchell Santner grabbed three important scalps including Muhammad Rizwan, Kamran Ghulam and Khushdil Shah as he conceded mere 41 runs off 10 overs.
All-rounder Michael Bracewell also rose to the occasion and plucked the wicket of crowd-puller Babar Azam who misjudged the bounce and played the ball into the hands of diving Phillips. The cautious knock of 10 off 23 balls by Babar Azam was the beginning of the end for Pakistan as the 52 run partnership came to an end.
Fakhar Zaman played an aggressive knock of 84 runs but his fall to a quicker delivery from Phillips dumped Pakistan. Salman Agha 40 (51) and Tayyab Tahr 30 (29) were the other major contributors
On the eve when the Black Caps all-rounders flourished in all departments, the Pakistani all-rounders failed to live up to the expectations of the fans and cricket experts. Khushdil Shah 15 (18) and Salman Ali Agha could not do for their team what Philips and Bracewell did for the Kiwis. Khushdil shah and Salman Agha also remained wicket-less in their 9 and 4.4 over spells respectively and conceded 66 and 31 runs.
Pakistan bowlers had the match under control in first half of the match as they restricted the Kiwis batsmen to 200-5 in 37.5 overs but lost the script in the last12 overs and were clueless in the face of onslaught from Phillips. Shaheen Shah Afridi bowled respectably and claimed three wickets but conceded 40 runs off his last two overs. He leaked 88 runs in his quota of 10 overs. Naseem Shah, the other quick, returned bowling figures of 70-0 in his quota. Abrar Ahmed bowled a miserly quota of 10 overs for two wickets and conceded 41 runs. Haris Rauf was also impressive with the ball and conceded 23 runs for one wicket in 6.3 overs.
The match also witnessed two injury scares as Pakistan pace ace Haris Rauf did not complete his quota and left the field rubbing his ribs after bowling 6.3 overs while the Kiwi all-rounder Rachin Ravindra got stuck in the head and left the field bleeding as he muffed a Khushdil Shah catch at deep square leg.
Pakistan will play their second match against South Africa in National Bank stadium, Karachi on February 12 (Wednesday) and they must win to keep their hopes alive of playing the tri-nation final of February 14 (Friday).
