New Zealand flayed Pakistan’s attack on the way to a crushing 119-run win during the second one-day international (ODI) in Napier yesterday.
The win means the Black Caps take the series 2-0 and maintain momentum ahead of this month’s World Cup, while Pakistan look in disarray after two poor displays.
New Zealand ran riot after winning the toss and electing to bat, ending their innings at 369 for five, their highest ever score against Pakistan.
Photo: AFP
Kane Williamson top-scored with 112, Ross Taylor finished 102 not out, with a boundary off the last ball, and opener Martin Guptill also contributed 76.
In contrast, Pakistan medium-pacer Bilawal Bhatti recorded the worst bowling figures in the nation’s ODI history, leaking 93 runs off his ten overs without taking a wicket.
Pakistan’s batsmen could only manage 250 in reply before they were bowled out in 43.1 overs, although they were chasing the game after a dismal bowling effort.
Ehsan Adil fared little better than Bhatti, taking one wicket, but going for 8.5 runs per over.
Mohammad Irfan was the only bowler who seemed remotely dangerous, finishing with two for 52.
Brendan McCullum set the tone for the hosts with a typically aggressive cameo of 31 before Guptill and Williamson brought up New Zealand’s 100 off 18.2 overs.
They both brought up half-centuries in swift fashion, with New Zealand on 152 at the halfway mark.
Williamson stepped on the gas after Guptill was dismissed for 76, moving from 63 to 100 in the space of eight overs.
The 24-year old finally fell for 112 to Irfan, but Ross Taylor then stepped in to club a 70-ball century in his 150th ODI, smashing Bhatti onto the roof of the stands.
Taylor appeared in danger of remaining stranded in the 90s in the final over, but a six and a four in the final two balls took him to 102.
Pakistan’s openers Mohammad Hafeez and Shehzad made an excellent start, chasing down the mammoth total by notching half-centuries at a little more than a run a ball.
Shehzad went for 52 dancing down the wicket to attack spinner Nathan McCullum, but holing out to the man on the boundary.
Younis Khan could only manage 11 as the run-rate steadily crept higher, reaching almost 9.6 at the halfway mark.
Hafeez (86) and dangerman Shahid Afridi (11) both went as they lashed out trying to lift the pace, and when Misbah-ul-Haq departed on 45 it was all over.
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