Misbah guides Pakistan home with unbeaten 93
Feb. 1: An unbeaten 93 by Misbah-ul-Haq paved the way for a narrow two-wicket Pakistan victory over New Zealand with an over to spare in the fourth ODI on Tuesday.
The win put Pakistan 2-1 up in the six-match series with one game abandoned as both sides fine-tune ahead of this month’s World Cup. Set a target of 263 to win, Pakistan appeared to have misjudged their run chase, despite Misbah’s heroics, as the match headed for a tense finish. But tailender Sohail Tanvir took control, arriving in the middle with two overs remaining, two wickets left and 13 runs required.
Sohail did not give Misbah a chance to reach his century as he smacked 14 off Tim Southee in the penultimate over to settle the outcome. After winning the toss and electing to bat first, New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori had reason to feel his decision was justified as Martin Guptill (21) and Jamie How (13) raced to 40 in the seventh over.
But the innings soon fell apart in the face of a lethal spell from Wahab Riaz and Abdul Razzaq. In the space of two overs New Zealand lost three wickets for four runs and then stumbled to five for 79.
Brendon McCullum and James Franklin breathed life back into the innings, cracking 62 in 12 overs. Franklin, a late addition to the New Zealand side after Jesse Ryder pulled out with a finger injury just before the match, top scored for New Zealand with 62 in 75 balls.
SCOREBOARD
New Zealand
M. Guptill c Younis b Riaz 21, J. How c Umar b Razzaq 13, R. Taylor c Younis b Riaz 4, S. Styris (run out) 11, K. Williamson c Younis b Hafeez 15, J. Franklin c Riaz b Afridi 62, B. McCullum c Kamran b Riaz 37, N. McCullum (not out) 53, D. Vettori (not out) 13, Extras (lb-12, w-19, nb-2 33
Total (for 7 wkts; 50 overs) 262
FoW: 1-40, 2-44, 3-44, 4-68, 5-79, 6-141, 7-205
Bowling: Sohail Tanvir 9-0-67-0, Abdul Razzaq 7-3-16-1, Wahab Riaz 10-1-51-3, Umar Gul 7-0-49-0, Md. Hafeez 7-0-25-1, S. Afridi 10-0-42-1
Pakistan
Md. Hafeez c Taylor b Bennett 12, A. Shehzad c Taylor b Styris 42, Kamran Akmal c Taylor b Styris 20, Younis Khan (run out) 42, Misbah-ul-Haq (not out) 93, Umar Akmal c N. McCullum b Vettori 10, S. Afridi lbw Vettori 4, A. Razzaq c Vettori b Bennett 23, W. Riaz c B. McCullum b Styris 0, S. Tanvir (not out) 14, Extras (lb-3, w-1) 4
Total (for 8 wkts; 49 overs) 264
FoW: 1-43, 2-71, 3-84, 4-173, 5-194, 6-198, 7-238, 8-250
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
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