New Zealand prevented a scary historic Pakistan last-wicket stand between Mohammad Aamir and Saeed Ajmal to win a thrilling final match by seven runs to secure three-match series at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Pakistan were reeling at 101 for nine in reply to New Zealand's 211 before tail-ender Aamer and Saeed Ajmal put in 103-runs to jolt the Danial Vettori's men.
Pakistan botched to capitalise after restricting their opponent on a moderate total although both Salman Butt and Khalid Latif gave Pakistan a solid start but a misery collapse to 101 for nine overpower Kiwis. Only Aamer (73) and Ajmal (33) - who had earlier taken 4-33, stood tall carry their team to the brink of the victory but ultimately Kyle Mills pouched a well judge catch of Ajmal to end all all the resistance.
Saeed Ajmal claimed career-best haul of four wickets to restrict New Zealand to 211 after New Zealand decided to bat first. Openers Brendon McCullum and Aaron Redmond making a promising start as they shared 72 for the first wicket before McCullum being caught and bowled by Shoaib Malik.
New Zealand raced to 72 by the 12th over, with McCullum hitting three sixes and six boundaries during his 47-ball half-century before the innings fell apart. Umar Gul who provided the breakthrough, removing opener Aaron Redmond for 21. This was Gul's 100th wicket in 67 one-day internationals.
Ajmal then dispatched Martin Guptill (8), Ross Taylor (44), Daniel Vettori (15) and Jacob Oram (2) to improve on his best One-Day figures of 2-16 against the West Indies at Johannesburg in September this year. Ross Taylor, who failed to score in the first two matches, featured with McCullum in 50-run partnership for the third wicket before Ajmal trapped him lbw.
Mohammad Aamir reeled up the tail quickly, picking up Kyle Mills (4) and Timothy Southee (4) to finished with 2-41. As both Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik accounted each wicket as Abdul Razzaq conceded wicket-less 19 off three overs.
© Cricdb
Showing posts with label NZL vs PAK. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NZL vs PAK. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
Nerveless Vettori and Elliott lead New Zealand to final
So finaly, Pakistan efforts that extremely put up in this tournaments end.............
Pakistan played good cricket, as well have lots of back prays of their country.........
But on other hand New Zealand played well as well all conditions going in his favour........
Grant Elliott and Daniel Vettori guided an incredibly thin batting line-up, blighted by injuries, to a modest target which was made more difficult to achieve by the variety in Pakistan's bowling attack. The New Zealand batsmen, who came out blazing at the start, made sure Pakistan never got back-to-back wickets, and the required run-rate never became too high for a well-timed batting Powerplay to redress. The five-wicket victory broke New Zealand's semi-final hoodoo, both against Pakistan and in world events.
Pakistan will rue two turning points, around the 40-over mark of each innings. In the first half of the day, after Pakistan's top order had failed, the 19-year-old Umar Akmal fought back with a free-spirited and sensible half-century. But just when he would have looked to open up and take the batting Powerplay he became a part of a 32-for-5 collapse thanks to a rare ordinary call from Simon Taufel. During the chase, with the run-rate slowly creeping past seven, and the batsmen struggling to stay abreast, Younis Khan dropped a dolly at cover from Elliott. He was on 42 off 78 balls then, New Zealand required 69 from 64, and only one four and two sixes had been hit in the preceding 21 overs.
That drop, off Mohammad Aamer, came during an extremely tight period when New Zealand scored only 13 runs off four overs. With 59 required off the last eight, Vettori and Elliott called for the Powerplay, and with 10 and 14 coming off its the first and third overs, the pressure evaporated.
Before that there was pressure aplenty. Both Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill came with a clear brief: get as many as possible in the first two Powerplays, and then the run-rate will be easy to manage - 44 of the first 60 runs came in boundaries. In doing that, though, both McCullum and Guptill lost their wickets. And when debutant Aaron Redmond fell in the 17th over, with the score 71 and the ball starting to turn big, Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi seemed to be all over the batsmen.
Then came the dropped chance, and then the Powerplay. Vettori opened up first during the restrictions, lofting Ajmal, Aamer and Rana for boundaries. Two no-balls by Rana in the 45th over almost put it across Pakistan, and 16 runs from the next over, by Umar Gul, sealed the matter.
If planning was the key in New Zealand's innings, it was conspicuous by its absence in Pakistan's. Their openers were duly tested by New Zealand bowlers, who found the perfect balance between the defensive and the offensive after having lost the toss on a flat pitch surrounded by an outfield as fast as a highway.
Imran Nazir and Kamran Akmal made uncharacteristically solid starts but, at 43 for 0 after nine overs, Shane Bond produced a special over. Two accurate bouncers, one a no-ball, and the other, a jaffa, rising from just short of a length and jagging into Nazir and taking the edge, reminded the cricketing world what it had been missing.
Ian Butler, who had been taken for three boundaries in his first over, removed Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal in back-to-back overs, both to ordinary shots. But during an 80-run stand for the fifth wicket, Mohammad Yousuf and Umar didn't try to unsettle the lesser New Zealand bowlers. It seemed as though they had forgotten the batting Powerplay, and played as if the good old 15-over restriction rule was in place.
Yousuf fell when the time to accelerate came, having scored 45 off 78. James Franklin and Grant Elliot went for 40 in their 10 overs, and gave Butler, Bond and Vettori enough scope to attack. Butler ended with career-best figures of 4 for 44.
When Yousuf fell in the 39th over, with the score on 166, one would have expected Shahid Afridi to call for the Powerplay. He didn't. But he kept playing risky cricket with the field out, and paid for it. In between those two dismissals, Taufel ruled Umar lbw off Vettori but replays showed the batsman had hit the ball. The Pakistan bowlers were left to give themselves runs to defend, and Aamer and Ajmal did that in uninhibited manner. They managed 233, with a 35-run last-wicket stand, but their batsmen had left them with too much to do.
Waqas Anis writer aashubutt.blogspot.com
Pakistan played good cricket, as well have lots of back prays of their country.........
But on other hand New Zealand played well as well all conditions going in his favour........
Grant Elliott and Daniel Vettori guided an incredibly thin batting line-up, blighted by injuries, to a modest target which was made more difficult to achieve by the variety in Pakistan's bowling attack. The New Zealand batsmen, who came out blazing at the start, made sure Pakistan never got back-to-back wickets, and the required run-rate never became too high for a well-timed batting Powerplay to redress. The five-wicket victory broke New Zealand's semi-final hoodoo, both against Pakistan and in world events.
Pakistan will rue two turning points, around the 40-over mark of each innings. In the first half of the day, after Pakistan's top order had failed, the 19-year-old Umar Akmal fought back with a free-spirited and sensible half-century. But just when he would have looked to open up and take the batting Powerplay he became a part of a 32-for-5 collapse thanks to a rare ordinary call from Simon Taufel. During the chase, with the run-rate slowly creeping past seven, and the batsmen struggling to stay abreast, Younis Khan dropped a dolly at cover from Elliott. He was on 42 off 78 balls then, New Zealand required 69 from 64, and only one four and two sixes had been hit in the preceding 21 overs.
That drop, off Mohammad Aamer, came during an extremely tight period when New Zealand scored only 13 runs off four overs. With 59 required off the last eight, Vettori and Elliott called for the Powerplay, and with 10 and 14 coming off its the first and third overs, the pressure evaporated.
Before that there was pressure aplenty. Both Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill came with a clear brief: get as many as possible in the first two Powerplays, and then the run-rate will be easy to manage - 44 of the first 60 runs came in boundaries. In doing that, though, both McCullum and Guptill lost their wickets. And when debutant Aaron Redmond fell in the 17th over, with the score 71 and the ball starting to turn big, Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi seemed to be all over the batsmen.
Then came the dropped chance, and then the Powerplay. Vettori opened up first during the restrictions, lofting Ajmal, Aamer and Rana for boundaries. Two no-balls by Rana in the 45th over almost put it across Pakistan, and 16 runs from the next over, by Umar Gul, sealed the matter.
If planning was the key in New Zealand's innings, it was conspicuous by its absence in Pakistan's. Their openers were duly tested by New Zealand bowlers, who found the perfect balance between the defensive and the offensive after having lost the toss on a flat pitch surrounded by an outfield as fast as a highway.
Imran Nazir and Kamran Akmal made uncharacteristically solid starts but, at 43 for 0 after nine overs, Shane Bond produced a special over. Two accurate bouncers, one a no-ball, and the other, a jaffa, rising from just short of a length and jagging into Nazir and taking the edge, reminded the cricketing world what it had been missing.
Ian Butler, who had been taken for three boundaries in his first over, removed Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal in back-to-back overs, both to ordinary shots. But during an 80-run stand for the fifth wicket, Mohammad Yousuf and Umar didn't try to unsettle the lesser New Zealand bowlers. It seemed as though they had forgotten the batting Powerplay, and played as if the good old 15-over restriction rule was in place.
Yousuf fell when the time to accelerate came, having scored 45 off 78. James Franklin and Grant Elliot went for 40 in their 10 overs, and gave Butler, Bond and Vettori enough scope to attack. Butler ended with career-best figures of 4 for 44.
When Yousuf fell in the 39th over, with the score on 166, one would have expected Shahid Afridi to call for the Powerplay. He didn't. But he kept playing risky cricket with the field out, and paid for it. In between those two dismissals, Taufel ruled Umar lbw off Vettori but replays showed the batsman had hit the ball. The Pakistan bowlers were left to give themselves runs to defend, and Aamer and Ajmal did that in uninhibited manner. They managed 233, with a 35-run last-wicket stand, but their batsmen had left them with too much to do.
Waqas Anis writer aashubutt.blogspot.com
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