Kiwis square series through McCullum’s century
November 6, 2009 by Trend PK
Filed under Sports News
Pakistan batting crumbled under the pressure of chasing a 300 plus total in the second ODI at Abu Dhabi. It was not a difficult target to chase but their top order just piled up a lot of pressure by not taking advantage of the field restrictions. The result was a 64-run win for the Black Caps to square the 3-ODI Series 1-1.
New Zealand found a way of beating Pakistan today which was to bat first and post a good total on board. They did that through Brendon McCullum’s 131 in the first session. It was positive cricket right from the decision taken by Vettori after winning the toss. They lost Aaron Redmond lofting one flat to mid off in the 5th over but recovered quickly with Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill playing good shots. Mohammad Aamer didn’t look that great today and the pitch too looked very good for batting with zero lateral movement.
It was only in the 24th over that Pakistan could finally break the partnership between McCullum and Guptill after the latter was caught at sweeper covers. Guptill was in fine touch having lofted a couple of sixes in a well paced 62 that laid the foundation for the Kiwis at 147 for 2. However, little did he know that his exit was paving way for a mini collapse with three wickets falling in 5 balls including that of his own. Ross Taylor failed again and this time inside edged a slider from Afridi in the 25th over. Three overs later, Scott Styris was run out after ball watching rather than responding to his partner.
New Zealand slipped to 160 for 4 when Skipper Daniel Vettori joined McCullum. Vettori showed all his maturity to hang in there along with McCullum and steer New Zealand out of trouble. Vettori was even hit on the helmet grill by a nasty short one from Mohammad Aamer. The left hander perished in the 38th over but not before he took NZ past 200 with McCullum. Vettori scored 30 from 33 in a partnership of 54 for the 5th wicket. McCullum after that completed his second ODI century and got New Zealand to a commanding 274 for 7 in the 47th over when he dragged a slog onto the stumps. The NZ Wicket Keeper scored 131 in 129 balls with 14 fours and 3 sixes. Big man Jacob Oram remained unbeaten on a run-a-ball 33 to guide the Black Caps to 303. It was an off day to all the bowlers except Shahid Afridi who got 2 for 49.
The Pakistani opening pair of Khaled Latif and Salman Butt no doubt put on a solid opening stand but they never could stamp their authority on the bowlers. The two openers kept New Zealand interested in the game as the required run rate was never coming down below the 6.00 mark. In the 17th over, Khalid Latif’s stay in the middle was finished by a Vettori arm ball. Latif scored 45 in 52 balls in an opening partnership of 77 and he struck the ball very sweetly today unlike the 1st ODI.
Pakistan just didn’t get the move on even after the arrival of their Skipper Younus Khan. The boundaries were eluding him and Salman Butt which just kept on adding up the pressure on the team. In the 28th over, Younis Khan’s 37-ball 19 came to a halt after getting brilliantly caught by Ross Taylor at mid wicket. Styris was the bowler who broke this 47-run stand gave two more deadly blows in succession dismissing last match heroes Afridi (first ball duck getting caught at mid wicket and Kamran Akmal (4) slashing one to covers. Pak were now at 133 for 4 and moments after that lost Salman Butt (59 from 81) through a run out.
The experienced trio of Yousuf, Malik and Razzaq couldn’t do much about bringing Pakistan back in the game as the match was already lost by then with as many as 170 to win from 19.3 overs with five wickets in hand. Yousuf was done in by an arm ball from Vettori in the 35th over and Malik after a cameo of 26 holed out to deep covers. Razzaq got caught at long off after a decent knock of 35 from 31 balls which included a six. Pakistan got bowled out in 47.2 overs for 239. The most successful Kiwi bowler was Scott Styris with 4-0-23-3. McCullum got the Man of the Match for a responsible century that held the innings for NZ.
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Kiwis square series through McCullum’s century was first posted on November 7, 2009 at 1:51 am.
