Published: Dec 13, 2014, 12:11 AM (IST)
Edited: Dec 13, 2014, 05:36 AM (IST)
Dec 12, 2014
Kane Williamson guided New Zealand to a comfortable four wicket win over Pakistan in the second One-Day International at Sharjah. This was New Zealand’s maiden ODI win over Pakistan at Sharjah. The venue has been the visitors friend this series, as they had leveled the Test Match series at Sharjah as well. Kane Williamson was unbeaten on 70 as New Zealand chased down the target of 253 in 46 overs.
New Zealand openers radiated positivity in pursuit of 253 that they were set by Pakistan to level the five-match series. Anton Devcich and Dean Brownlie batted with gay abandon as they notched up a fifty run stand at a run a ball to quickly deflate the spirit of the Pakistan bowling attack and the Sharjah crowd alike.They took full toll of the loose bowling dished out by the Pakistan seamers, who missed their mark with great regularity. The Pakistan seamers bowled on both sides of the wicket making it incredibly tough for Misbah-Ul-Haq to set a field. Devcich scored his maiden half century while Brownlie fell short of his by 3 runs. Brownlie’s dismissal was the 100th time in his career, Shahid Afridi clean bowled a batsman in ODI cricket. The duo of Devcich and Brownlie added 102 runs for the first wicket. This was the first instance of a Kiwi opening pair registering a 100-run stand in three years.
Brownlie passed on the baton to the New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson, and Williamson batted in much the assured manner that we’ve become accustomed to. The kiwis found the boundary with great frequency. He and Devcich were in complete control of the situation when Devcich fell victim to miscommunication with his skipper, getting run out against the run of play, the only way it appeared possible for them to lose a wicket considering Pakistan’s insipid bowling performance. Ross Taylor then followed suit. Taylor was dismissed by an apparently innocuous delivery from part timer Harris Sohail. Then Tom Latham injudiciously tried to slog him out of the park much to the delight of the hosts as all he managed to do was find the long-on fielder to perfection. The wicket of Latham left the match Tantalisingly poised at 148 for 4. Corey Anderson was next to come and next to go as he swung across a straight delivery from Harris Sohail. The Kiwi batsmen were committing hara-kiri. Harris Sohail had spun a web around the Kiwi Batsmen, quite ironically though, he wasn’t even spinning the ball.
Williamson didn’t let the stumbling New Zealand innings affect his concentration as he held fort from one end. Luke Ronchi’s arrival in the middle also coincided with that of the dew, which made it increasingly difficult for the Pakistan bowlers to grip the ball. The dew also helped the ball slide a little quicker on to the bat much to the liking of Williamson and specially Ronchi. Ronchi’s batting has come up in leaps and bounds in recent months. This scintillating cameo of 36 was a reflection of that evolution. The pair of Williamson and Ronchi resurrected the Kiwi run chase to take them within touching distance of the target of 253. The pendulum could still have swung either way but immediately after the dismissal of Ronchi, Williamson got 10 runs from the subsequent over bowled by Mohammad Irfan. Williamson took New Zealand past the victory line in the 46th over and in the company of Daniel Vettori.
Earlier in the day Pakistan opted to make first use of a typically flat Sharjah pitch but failed to take advantage of their captain’s decision. The Kiwis had the hosts tottering at 20 for 3 in the first six overs. In fact Pakistan began disastrously losing Ahmed Shehzad in the very first over. Younis Khan was next to follow as he nicked Mitchell Mcclenaghan through to Ross Taylor at first slip. Mohammad Hafeez and Harris Sohail rescued the Pakistan innings adding 77 useful runs for the fourth wicket. After the fall of Sohail, Hafeez and Misbah shared a stand worth 66. Their untimely dismissals though, thwarted any hopes of reaching a total close to 300. Sarfraz Ahmed shepherded the Pakistan lower order to take them past 250. Shahid Afridi was back in character as he scored a quick fire 27 from 14 balls. Wahab Riaz and Sohail Tanveer briefly supported Sarfraz in the middle. Pakistan were eventually bowled out for 252 in 48.3 overs. Matt Henry was the pick of the Kiwi bowlers with four wickets to his credit.
Brief Scores:
Pakistan 252 in 48.3 overs ( Md. Hafeez 76, Misbah-Ul-Haq 47; M Henry 4 for 45, M Mcclenaghan 3 for 56 ) lost to New Zealand 255 for 6 in 46 overs ( K Williamson 70*, A Devcich 58; H Sohail 3 for 44, S Afridi 2 for 47 ) by 4 wickets
