New Zealand square series as Pakistan batsmen fall to ambitious shots

Joy Chakravarty 08:06 06/12/2014
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  • Spinning success: New Zealand's Anton Devcich claimed 2-16 in his four overs to derail the Pakistan innings on Friday in Dubai.

    Pakistan had only themselves to blame as New Zealand squared the two-match Twenty20 International series on Friday with a 17-run victory.

    At the Dubai International Stadium, Shahid Afridi and his men bowled well to limit New Zealand to 144 for eight, but then perished for a meagre 127 in 18.5 overs as one batsman after another departed playing rash shots.

    – New Zealand’s Kane Williamson expecting a tough task in UAE

    – Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi relishing the prospect of first T20 against New Zealand

    – Umar Gul return a timely boost as Pakistan face New Zealand in T20 in Dubai

    It was all downhill for Pakistan once they lost their hero from the first match, Sarfaraz Ahmed, for one in the first over.

    With his straight-forward leftarm orthodox spin, man-of-the-match Anton Devcic (2-16 in four overs) then claimed his second wicket in his second over when Mohammad Hafeez tamely pushed a catch back to him.

    Pakistan were soon 24-3 in the fifth over when Haris Sohail felt the pressure of making three runs in nine balls and hoisted Matt Henry to Tom Latham at the square-leg boundary.

    Ahmed Shehzad (33 in 36 balls), making a comeback into the team after sustaining a minor skull fracture when struck by a bouncer in the first Test match at Abu Dhabi, tried to hold one end, but he too was dismissed – clean bowled by Daniel Vettori – trying to force the pace.

    The Kiwi bowlers – led by paceman James Neesham (3-25) and Kyle Mills (3-26) – then took over and in the company of the spinners, gave away just 56 runs in 11 overs from the fourth to 14th.

    Captain Afridi launched a late attack, making a quickfire 28 in 11 balls with three sixes, but it was too little too late for his team. Earlier, put in to bat first after Afridi won the toss for the second consecutive day, New Zealand reached 144 for eight despite a decent opening partnership of 49 between captain Kane Williamson and Devcic.

    But once Devcic was clean bowled trying to square cut a straight ballby Mohammad Hafeez in the seventh over, the Kiwi batsmen struggled against the three-pronged spin attack of Pakistan.

    They were soon down to 78-4 in the 13th over, with Afridi picking up two wickets with his fast leg-spin, while left-arm orthodox Raza Hassan ended a rather uncomfortable stay of Ross Taylor. Afridi finished with 2-33, including the important wicket of his counterpart Williamson.

    The Kiwi captain tried to turn a straight delivery that skidded off the pitch and completely missed the line to be clean bowled for 32 in 31 balls. Afridi’s figures took a beating in his last over when Luke Ronchi smashed him for two massive sixes off successive deliveries in the 16th over.

    Ronchi scored 31 runs in 26 balls, and it was his 38-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Tom Latham (26 runs in 26 balls) that gave some respectability to the Kiwi total. Clearly, both the teams were more focused on the upcoming One Day Internationals as the fivematch series assumes huge significance considering the World Cup is just a couple of months away.

    That attitude was evident in the way both the captain made the changes in their playing eleven compared to the first match on Thursday night.

    Despite winning that match, Pakistan brought in Shehzad and fast bowler Umar Gul in place of Mohammad Irfan and Awais Zia. Just like Shehzad, Gul was also coming off an injury layoff. Shehzad’s was a stunning comeback even before he came out to bat.

    He was a livewire in the field, throwing himself and stopping shots that had boundary written all over them. He also took a good catch to help remove the dangerman Ronchi and his quick pick up and throw was the reason Nathan McCullum was run out.

    While Pakistan made just two changes, Williamson made so many that he forgot the line-up while speaking to the TV commentator at the start of the match.

    With an obvious strategy of giving each and every member of his 15-man squad a chance in the middle, Williamson included Tom Latham, Mills, Vettori and Dean Brownlie who replaced Corey Anderson, Martin Guptill, Adam Milne and Mitchell McClenaghan.

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