Pakistan vs New Zealand: Shaheens all out for 242

KARACHI: Pakistan collided with New Zealand in the finals of the tri-nation series on Friday. After winning the toss, the men in green elected to bat first. Apart from an 88 run partnership from Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Agha, the Shaheens struggled to find stability against the Kiwi bowlers. William O’Rourke in particular dominated, taking four wickets in the innings.

The game so far:

Pakistan’s Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam took to the field to bat first. Unfortunately, the former was dismissed in the fourth over, after only making ten runs, eight of which came off two fours. A weak chip sent a delivery from Will O’Rourke straight into the hands of Will Young.

Saud Shakeel replaced Fakhar, and together with Azam, he added 30 runs to Pakistan’s total before he too was sent off. Shakeel was bowled in the ninth over by Michael Bracewell. Pakistan then suffered another wickets not long after in the twelvth. It was Babar who chipped the delivery from Nathan Smith right back into the hands of the 26 year old fast bowler. Before he left the field, Babar made 29 runs off 34 deliveries, and tied Hashim Amla’s record for the fastest to reach 6000 runs in the ODI format in the seventh over.

Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Agha then brought some stability to Pakistan’s innings, scoring 88 runs off 120 deliveries together. However, in the 32nd over, New Zealand ended their partnership, as O’Rourke delivery ricocheted off the inside edge of Rizwan’s bat before slamming into the leg stump. Rizwan was just four runs short of making a half century.

Salman Agha was caught out shortly after in the 37th over, five runs short of a half century. Bracewell’s delivery was top-edged to Jacob Duffy at short third.

Tayyab Tahir was dismissed in the 42nd over, on a delivery from Duffy that was caught by Williamson at short midwicket. Khushdil Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi were both dismissed soon after by Santner in the 44th. The former was caught by Phillips at deep midwicket, while the latter was caught by Young near short third.

Faheem Ashraf was caught out by Santner at midoff in the final over, giving O’Rourke his third wicket of the innings. A couple balls later, Naseem Shah was caught out as well, this time it was Bracewell, and O’Rourke had his fourth and final wicket.

Pakistan are all out for 242 runs in 49.3 overs.

Also read: Kusal Mendis’ ton leads Sri Lanka to 281 runs

Captain’s comments, toss, and squads

Pakistan skipper Mohammad Rizwan won the toss and chose to bat first. He stated that the pitch looks dry and they want to put runs on the board. Rizwan also said that the win against Sri Lanka has given them momentum, and that they will try to do their best. The men in green only have one change in their squad, as Faheem Ashraf is replacing Muhammad Hasnain.

Pakistan’s squad is as follows: 1 Fakhar Zaman, 2 Babar Azam, 3 Saud Shakeel, 4 Mohammad Rizwan (capt & wk), 5 Salman Ali Agha, 6 Tayyab Tahir, 7 Khushdil Shah, 8 Faheem Ashraf, 9 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 10 Naseem Shah, 11 Abrar Ahmed

New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner predicted that fans were in for a high scoring game. He added that his team is familiar with the wickets now. While New Zealand obviously wants to win, Santner stated that there is a bigger picture, which is the team moving in the right direction. There are two changes to the New Zealand side, as Jacob Duffy and Nathan smith replace Matt Henry and Ben Sears.

The New Zealand squad is as follows: 1 Devon Conway, 2 Will Young, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Daryl Mitchell, 5 Tom Latham (wk), 6 Glenn Phillips, 7 Michael Bracewell, 8 Mitchell Santner (capt), 9 Jacob Duffy, 10 Nathan Smith, 11 Will O’Rourke

Also read: Ben Sears out with hamstring injury, Ravindra back at training