WELLINGTON: Misbah-ul-haq's Great and Responsible Innings lead pakistan to beat Newzealand to lead the series by 2-1.
Misbah, who has anchored Pakistan’s batting throughout the tour of New Zealand, proved once again a thorn in the side of Daniel Vettori’s team, scoring 93 not out as Pakistan finished on 264 for eight in 49 overs having chased down the host’s 262 for seven.
The Pakistan test captain, who had been coasting to the victory target while batting with Younus Khan (42), was forced to take all the responsibility of getting his side home when Younus was run out in the 38th over.
Umar Akmal then scratched around for 10 off 17 balls before he was well caught in the 43rd over by Nathan McCullum off Vettori, who trapped Shahid Afridi in front two balls later to give New Zealand a faint hope of running through the bowlers to win the match and take a 2-1 lead in the best of six series.
Misbah, however, and Abdul Razzaq (23) managed to keep pace with the required run rate and while Razzaq was well caught by a hobbling Vettori, Misbah smashed 10 runs off two balls from Scott Styris and Sohail Tanvir (14) hit three boundaries off Tim Southee the next over to see their side home.
Late call-up James Franklin had proved the saviour of New Zealand’s innings, which was about 30 runs short of a par total on a good batting wicket with short square boundaries.
Franklin was only brought into the side after Jesse Ryder, who injured a finger while playing for Wellington at the weekend, withdrew before play began.
The left-hander, who had scores of 72 not out, 98 not out and 17 not out in his previous three innings in India last December, top-scored with 62 to help arrest New Zealand’s mid-innings slump.
The hosts had romped to 40 without loss but lost three wickets for four runs and then slumped to 79 for five before Franklin’s 62-run partnership with Brendon McCullum (37) and a stand of 64 runs with Nathan McCullum (53 not out) halted the slide.
Scoreboard:
New Zealand
M. Guptill c Younis Khan b Wahab Riaz 21
J. How c Umar Akmal b Abdul Razzaq 13
R. Taylor c Younis Khan b Wahab Riaz 4
S. Styris run out (Gul/Hafeez) 11
K. Williamson c Younis Khan b Mohammed Hafeez 15
J. Franklin c Wahab Riaz b Shahid Afridi 62
B. McCullum c Kamran Akmal b Wahab Riaz 37
N. McCullum not out 53
D. Vettori not out 13
Extras
(lb 12, w 19, nb 2) 33
Total
(7 wkts; 50 overs) 262
Fall of wickets
: 1-40 (Guptill), 2-44 (How), 3-44 (Taylor), 4-68 (Styris), 5-79 (Williamson), 6-141 (B McCullum), 7-205 (Franklin)
Did not bat
: T. Southee, H. Bennett
Bowling
: Sohail Tanvir 9-0-67-0 (3w), Abdul Razzaq 7-3-16-1, Wahab Riaz 10-1-51-3 (1nb, 6w), Umar Gul 7-0-49-0 (1nb, 4w), Mohammad Hafeez 7-0-25-1 (2w), Shahid Afridi 10-0-42-1
Pakistan
Mohammad Hafeez c Taylor b Bennett 12
Ahmed Shehzad c Taylor b Styris 42
Kamran Akmal c Taylor b Styris 20
Younis Khan run out (N. McCullum/B. McCullum) 42
Misbah-ul-Haq not out 93
Umar Akmal c N. McCullum b Vettori 10
Shahid Afridi lbw Vettori 4
Abdul Razzaq c Vettori b Bennett 23
Wahab Riaz c B. McCullum b Styris 0
Sohail Tanvir not out 14
Extras
(lb 3, w 1) 4
Total
(8 wkts; 49 overs) 264
Fall of wickets
: 1-43 (Mohammad Hafeez), 2-71 (Ahmed Shehzad), 3-84 (Kamran Akmal), 4-173 (Younis Khan), 5-194 (Umar Akmal), 6-198 (Shahid Afridi), 7-238 (Abdul Razzaq), 8-250 (Wahab Riaz)
Did not bat
: Umar Gul
Bowling:
Southee 10-0-70-0 (1w), Bennett 10-0-48-2, N. McCullum 4-0-26-0, Vettori 10-0-48-2, Styris 9-0-40-3, Franklin 6-0-29-0
Toss:
New Zealand
Result:
Pakistan win by two wickets
Man of the match
: Misbah-ul-Haq
Series:
Pakistan 2-1
Umpires
: Gary Baxter (NZL), Steve Davies (AUS)
TV umpire
: Barry Frost (NZL)
Match referee:
Alan Hurst (AUS)
