Brendon McCullum hit a return-to-form century and Scott Styris took three wickets in two overs as New Zealand beat Pakistan by 64 runs in the second day-night international on Friday.
McCullum notched 131 to help the Black Caps post a challenging 303-8 on a flat Abu Dhabi Stadium pitch, before Styris (3-23) triggered a middle-order collapse that saw Pakistan bowled out for 239, leaving the three-match series level at 1-1.
Pakistan won the first match by 138 runs on Tuesday. The final match will be played tomorrow.
Chasing a daunting target, Pakistan got off to a solid start of 77 with Khalid Latif (45) and Salman Butt (59) setting the tempo. Even after Latif fell leg before wicket to New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori in the 17th over, Pakistan were well on course.
Butt and Younus (19) added another 47 for the second wicket, before Styris struck three times in 10 balls to turn the match in his team’s favor.
Bowling for the first time in 13 months, Styris had Younus smartly caught at short mid-wicket by a diving Ross Taylor and then next ball induced Shahid Afridi (0) to play into the same fielder’s hands.
In his next over, Styris had Kamran Akmal (4) caught at short cover, before Butt was run out after being sent back by Mohammad Yousuf.
Vettori then trapped Yousuf (18) to push Pakistan to the brink of defeat.
Although Shoaib Malik (26) and Abdul Razzaq (35) resisted, it was too little, too late against a professional New Zealand side.
Earlier, New Zealand had McCullum to thank for repairing their innings through a second-wicket stand of 126 with Martin Guptill (62).
McCullum steadied the innings, driving and cutting with authority during his 129-ball knock. He hit 14 boundaries and three sixes.
Guptill hit five boundaries and two sixes during his 70-ball knock, before holing out to pace man Razzaq.
McCullum reached the three-figure mark off 108 deliveries. He was finally dismissed in the 47th over, bowled off an inside edge by pace man Umar Gul.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but