The rain came down in Napier to kill the contest

Pakistan 223( Farhat 117*, O'Brien 4-35, Tuffey 4-52) and 455 (Yousuf 89, Umar 77) drew with New Zealand 471 (Vettori 134, McCullum 89, Kaneria 7-168) and 90 for 0 (Watling 60*, McIntosh 23*)  

 

Close but no cigar for New Zealand. They needed 118 from a minimum of 23 overs to win the series, BJ Watling was leading the chase with a spirited half-century and no Pakistan bowler looked threatening when the rain came down in Napier to kill the contest. The target looked within reach but the steady shower ensured that an absorbing series ended 1-1.

New Zealand were set a target of 208 in a minimum of 43 overs and, when Watling opened with Tim McIntosh, the most likely result appeared to be a draw, given how slowly these openers batted in the first innings. Watling, however, played an innings of character to send a shiver down Pakistan's spine. It was high-drama in overcast Napier: The fielders continually looked at the clouds, Mohammad Yousuf kept nudging the umpires to stop play, the batsmen were trying not to look concerned and moods in the dressing rooms were of stark contrast.

Watling, after a sedate first innings on debut, was serenely destructive in the second. There wasn't a single shot that was out of the book and he took few risks, yet runs came at a brisk pace. He played a pull and a cover drive but it was the cut that really caught the eye. The shot that really got him going came when he was on 11: The ball from Gul was short of a length and there wasn't much width on offer but Watling played a delicate late cut to the third-man boundary.

Gul tried to intimidate with two bouncers but Watling delicately side-stepped to unfurl upper cuts and collect fours. Pakistan attacked with spin from Danish Kaneria but Watling refused to be contained. He counterattacked with a stunning slog-swept flat six and a delicate paddle-swept four. With McIntosh rotating the strike adeptly, Pakistan were beginning to run out of ideas when rain came to their rescue.

New Zealand's brisk batting was in contrast to Pakistan's slow approach in the morning. Their batsmen were playing a game that doesn't come naturally to them and it made for absorbing viewing.

The moment that captured their dilemma came when Kamran Akmal hit a four and shook his head, seemingly unhappy with his shot selection. It was a stunning hit over extra cover; he had knifed through the line of a length delivery from Chris Martin but when the camera panned on him, he was shaking his head and admonishing himself. It was a risky shot in the context of the game, with the team trying to secure a safe lead before thinking of anything beyond, and he knew it. However, the shot was a natural, almost reflexive, reaction from an attacking batsman and it was that kind of a battle that Umar and Misbah too fought without success.

Misbah's failing was greater than that of Umar for he was not only more experienced but also someone who can, in theory, play the patient game. And he had started well, nudging, pushing and leaving anything that he didn't have to play. However New Zealand suffocated him with their relentless discipline and a feeling of claustrophobia set in. And the brain freeze eventually came when Misbah faced up to Daniel Vettori for the first time in the day. He went for an almighty heave - his critics would call it a dirty slog - missed it completely, and was quickly stumped by Brendon McCullum with his back foot still on the line.

Umar, unlike on the fourth day, was more sedate this morning. Iain O'Brien and the close-in fielders teased him to have a go but he continued batting defensively. Occasionally, though, the impishness in him threatened to crack open the lid of self-control. There was a hoick against O'Brien and a couple of plays and misses but no damage was done till he came up against the new ball, when he feathered an edge off an attempted cut shot to McCullum. A brain freeze by Mohammad Aamer, who had played out 52 balls with caution, threw open all possibilities yet again as Pakistan were bundled out soon after the break. The rains, however, came down to douse a cracker of a contest.

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India crush SriLanka in 2nd T20 Match and Level the series

Yuvraj Singh gave himself a 28th birthday present with three wickets and a witheringly powerful half-century as India became only the second team to successfully chase more than 200 in a Twenty20 international. Kumar Sangakkara's dazzling 31-ball 59 had been the foundation of Sri Lanka's imposing 206 for 7, but with Virender Sehwag clearing the ropes with ease during his 64 (36 balls) and MS Dhoni contributed a rapid 46, India eased home with five balls to spare. In the process, India recorded the highest chase, surpassing South Africa's 208 against West Indies in the 2007 ICC World Twenty20.

When Yuvraj is on song, modest medium pace really isn't the answer, and Sri Lanka discovered that the hard way. For much of the chase, the game was in the balance, but two overs turned an arduous trek into a stroll. First, Kaushalya Weeraratne was pummelled for sixes over long-off and long-on in an over that cost 21, and then Nuwan Kulasekara was thumped a long way over cover and long-on in a 23-run over. To add to Kulasekara's woes, Tillakaratne Dilshan let one slip through his fingers for four, with Yuvraj then on 40.

India had fielded appallingly once again, dropping five catches, but Sri Lanka were a little better, missing direct hits by the bushel and catching poorly as well. The outcome might have been very different had Sanath Jayasuriya managed to take Sehwag on the run at mid-on when he had just 14, and if Chamara Kapugedera hadn't spilled a chance at deep midwicket when Dhoni had just one.

Sehwag certainly exacted a heavy toll. The hapless Weeraratne was twice walloped over cover for sixes, and Angelo Mathews met with the same fate. His entrance into the bowling attack had hardly been auspicious, with Dhoni whipping one down to the sightscreen.

After Gautam Gambhir was run out going for a third run off a misfield, India appeared to have the chase under control but a superb 11th over from Lasith Malinga got Sri Lanka right back into contention. He conceded only four and had Sehwag caught straight down the ground. But then came Yuvraj and his six blitz, and it was perhaps fitting that he clinched it with another nonchalant heave over long-on.

Earlier, Sangakkara had followed up his 37-ball 78 at Nagpur with a blistering innings. Jayasuriya weighed in with 31 from just 21 balls, and there was a punishing 38 from Chintaka Jayasinghe. India were generous hosts, with Sangakkara reprieved by Ravindra Jadeja on the midwicket boundary, and Jayasinghe benefitting twice as Ashish Nehra and Gambhir failed to hold on to mistimed slogs.

Sangakkara had started with a fluid cover-drive after Ishant Sharma had sent Dilshan's leg stump cartwheeling. He then slammed Sudeep Tyagi, the debutant, over point for six before a fortuitous inside edge for four. He continued to drive beautifully through cover as the 50 of the innings took just 4.3 overs.

Jayasuriya struck one incredible six over cover off Nehra and by the end of the Powerplay, Sri Lanka had 73 for 1. Dhoni opted for spin as early as the sixth over, but both Yusuf Pathan and Suresh Raina struggled, with wides aplenty down the leg side. Pathan finally trapped Jayasuriya in front to end an 81-run partnership that took just 6.3 overs, but by the halfway stage, there were 107 on the board.

Sangakkara got to his half-century with a smashing shot over midwicket for six, but Yuvraj finally got his Kings XI Punjab team-mate as the encore found Nehra at wide long-on. Mahela Jayawardene, another IPL "local", came in and cut Jadeja for four, before a big heave off Ishant went for six, but when he tried to repeat the stroke, Tyagi held on to the chance.

Kapugedara holed out in similar fashion off Yuvraj, and Jayasinghe, who had clouted a six over long-on off Jadeja, finally ran out of luck when he swung one to deep square leg. With Weeraratne run out after a poor call from Mathews, Sri Lanka's innings threatened to run out of fizz in the final stages.

But Mathews flicked Ishant for six and Karthik dropped yet another chance on the rope at square-leg as the damage done in the early overs was reinforced. Mathews finished off with another meaty six as India squared up to the depressing reality of a fifth successive Twenty20 loss. Fortunately for them, their big-hitting boys came out to play. And how.