KARACHI: It was breezy here at the National Stadium on Wednesday night, but it was humid too. Down 2-0 in the five-match One-day International series, New Zealand weren’t letting their hopes slip in the third match.

With the asking rate rising and less than 10 overs to go, the visitors had to do something to save the series. Captain Tom Latham had been solid on the crease, but more was needed.

As soon as the left-hander tried something different — an attempted scoop against Mohammad Wasim’s pace — he saw his stumps flying.

Cole McConchie, though, did not relent after Latham was gone. The right-hander threatened to take it away from Pakistan — who gave him an extra life thanks to Abdullah Shafique’s dropped catch — bludgeoning the Pakistan bowlers all around the ground.

His partners at the other end though failed him as New Zealand eventually went down, giving Pakistan an unassailable 3-0 lead.

New Zealand had started their pursuit to a 288-run target well. Tom Blundell, who had replaced Chad Bowes at the top of the order, and Will Young got them off to a flying start, finding boundaries around the ground against Pakistan pacers Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Wasim. The pair was past 50 as early as the end of the ninth over.

Pakistan made their first breakthrough in the 16th over when a brilliant throw by Agha Salman at third man ran out Young (31 off 41) just a ball before Blundell brought up his maiden ODI half century.

The incoming Daryl Mitchell was given two lives by Pakistan; first when wicket-keeper Mohammad Rizwan failed to grab on a faint edge off Nawaz in the 19th before the slow left-armer dropped the batter off his own bowling, also injuring his finger before being taken for an x-ray.

Mitchell (21), who had scored centuries in the first two matches, looked dangerous when he smashed Wasim for two boundaries in the 21st over but holed the quick out to Abdullah at square leg two overs later.

Before New Zealand could recover from the blow, they were hit by another in form of another run out and this time Wasim made an impact as a fielder, as Rizwan collected a rocket throw for him to dislodge the striker’s end to end Blundell’s time at the wicket for 65.

Latham and Mark Chapman (13) brought stability, but their 50-ball partnership for 40 ended when Naseem cleaned up the latter with an outswinger that knocked over off-stump.

In the next over, the incoming Henry Nicholls found Abdullah and square leg off Salman’s off-spin before Latham (45) succumbed to Wasim.

McConchie, who was 64 not out off 45, hit Shadab Khan for a six in the next over before smashing Wasim for three fours. The right-hander reached his 50 off just 36 balls with a huge six off Shaheen. He hit two more fours but at the other end, Shaheen and Naseem got rid of the New Zealand tail.

Earlier, the slowness of the pitch and disciplined bowling by the New Zealand attack required Pakistan batters to work hard for their runs.

Although Fakhar Zaman — who was coming into the match at the back of consecutive hundreds in the first two matches — failed in repeating the feat for the third time, it was a 90-run knock off 107 by his opening partner Imam-ul-Haq that provided the base for Pakistan’s total.

The bespectacled left-hander combined with his friend and Pakistan captain Babar Azam (54) for a 108-run partnership off 121 balls for the second wicket but the pair shared just 10 fours and two sixes between them.

Babar and Imam’s partnership was complimented by crucial contributions of nearly run-a-ball 32 and 31 by Mohammad Rizwan and Agha Salman before Shadab played a 10-ball cameo for 21 runs to take Pakistan close to the 300-run mark.

While McConchie’s off-break gave away just 46 runs in 10 overs, it was pacer Matt Henry who was among the wickets for New Zealand, taking crucial wickets of Fakhar, Babar and Salman and giveing away just 54 runs.

Henry gave New Zealand the first breakthrough when Fakhar (19 off 26) uncharacteristically played way across the line of the ball to sky it and get caught.

Imam had also flicked Henry for three fours in a row to make up for his slow start but put on the brakes again as soon as spin was introduced into the attack. Between the 12th and 18th over, Pakistan hadn’t scored any boundaries before Babar lifted McConchie over long-on for a six.

Not long after Babar and Imam brought up their fifty partnership, Imam launched McConchie over midwicket for another six in the 21st over.

Pakistan brought up their 100 in the next over, which also saw Imam reach his 50 off 67 balls. Playing at 55 off 75 balls, Imam miscued an attempt to clear mid-off, where Latham dropped a tricky chance before Babar reached his 50 off 58 balls with a cut past backward point for a boundary off Shipley in the 27th over after he had flicked and pulled for two .

Imam jumped down the track to lift leg-spinner Ish Sodhi down the ground for four more in the next over but soon saw Babar play on Henry onto his stumps. The opener was awarded another reprieve at 71 when Henry dropped him off his own bowling in the 31st over.

After Abdullah was dismissed by McConchie, Imam succumbed to Milne in the 38th over, misjudging a delivery angling into him to see his stumps shattered before Rizwan, Salman and Shadab helped Pakistan to 287-6.

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN:

Fakhar Zaman c Blundell b Henry 19

Imam-ul-Haq b Milne 90

Babar Azam b Henry 54

Abdullah Shafique c Latham b McConchie 19

Mohammad Rizwan c McConchie b Milne 32

Agha Salman c Milne b Henry 31

Mohammad Nawaz not out 11

Shadab Khan not out 21

EXTRAS (LB-2, W-8) 10

TOTAL (for six wkts, 50 overs) 287

DID NOT BAT: Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah.

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-37 (Fakhar), 2-145 (Babar), 3-182 (Abdullah), 4-192 (Imam), 5-246 (Salman), 6-261 (Rizwan)

BOWLING: Henry 10-2-54-3 (2w), Milne 10-1-56-2 (1w), Shipley 10-0-73-0 (5w), McConchie 10-0-46-1, Sodhi 10-0-56-0.

NEW ZEALAND:

W. Young run out (Salman) 33

T. Blundell run out (Wasim/Rizwan) 65

D. Mitchell c Abdullah b Wasim 21

T. Latham b Wasim 45

M. Chapman b Naseem 13

H. Nicholls c Abdullah b Salman 1

C. McConchie not out 64

A. Milne b Shaheen 3

H. Shipley c Wasim b Naseem 6

I. Sodhi b Shaheen 1

M. Henry run out (Babar/Naseem) 1

EXTRAS (LB-5, W-4) 9

TOTAL (all out, 49.1 overs) 261

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-83 (Young), 2-113 (Mitchell), 3-128 (Blundell), 4-168 (Chapman), 5-171 (Nicholls), 6-196 (Latham), 7-227 (Milne), 8-246 (Shipley), 9-258 (Sodhi).

BOWLING: Shaheen 9-0-52-2 (1w), Naseem 8.1-0-41-2 (1w), Wasim 7.5-1-50-2, Nawaz 5.1-0-26-0, Shadab 10-0-45-0, Salman 9-0-42-1 (2w).

RESULT: Pakistan won by 26 runs.

Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2023