New Zealand defended a solid total set by Finn Allen's 41-ball 74.
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With a commanding 21-run victory over Pakistan at Seddon Park, New Zealand easily took a 2-0 series lead. Finn Allen fashioned the victory with a scorching 41-ball 74. Adam Milne’s four-fer helped the Black Caps win, despite Pakistan’s impressive comeback to limit their hosts to a score of less than 200 and their threat to chase it down through an 87-run partnership between Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman.
Allen speeds off.
Beautiful batting conditions were produced at Seddon Park, and it was sufficient to give an unaltered Pakistan team something to aim for. The fact that 30 runs were scored in the first three overs gave early warning that the total would be high. Chief aggressor Allen removed Haris Rauf for four and six in his opening over, then hit Shaheen Afridi for another six over deep mid-wicket. Allen and Devon Conway scored eighteen more runs in Rauf’s second over, causing much more suffering.
The opening stand of 59 runs was eventually broken by Aamer Jamal’s first delivery of the sixth over, which caused Conway to mishit a pickup shot. Allen, though, had 36 off 16 at that point, with three fours and an identical number of sixes.
Problems with injuries for Kane Williamson
The skipper of New Zealand was the perfect example of a follow-through, skipping out of his crease and drilling the fourth ball he faced to the boundary of the cover. Aamer Jamal took a liking to Williamson, who hammered him for two fours and a six. After ten overs, Williamson and Allen put up fifty runs (off just 29 balls), taking New Zealand to 111/1. The Black Caps captain, though, retired hurt after a 15-ball 26 after he felt tightness in his right hamstring during the tenth over while completing a run. He was treated on the pitch and then hobbled off.
For the upcoming Twenty20 International, Williamson has already taken a break in order to manage his fitness after a run of previous ailments.
Whether he plays in the last two games of the series or not is still up in the air.
Pakistan responded in the latter half.
Pakistan gave up just 83 runs in the second half of the innings after giving up 111 in the first. This is true even though Allen finished with 74 from 41 deliveries, increasing from a 24-ball 50. Pakistan did a great job of keeping opposing hitters quiet. Usama Mir, a legspinner, bowled Allen off a googly to start the mini-collapse, and in the next over, Abbas Afridi had Daryl Mitchell slice one onto his stumps.
Aamer Jamal’s over saw the return of Mitchell Santner smash 14 runs off of it, but Rauf produced a fantastic 19th over, conceding only five runs and claiming three wickets. New Zealand failed to surpass the 200-run barrier, which they were predicted to easily cross, with a seven-run last over.
Early defeat in the pursuit
In the first ball he faced, Mohammad Rizwan smashed a six, but Pakistan was two down after nine balls in the chase. While the superb Milne found great shape on an outswinger to encourage Rizwan to chase and edge to the ‘keeper, Saim Ayub attempted to take on the longer boundary and failed. Ben Sears dropped a routine take at short fine-leg, putting Pakistan out of further danger when Fakhar Zaman was sent down on zero in that same Milne over.
The counter of Zaman, Babar
With typical Babar style, Babar raced away to 28 off 15, pushing limits on the rise. Zaman, on the other hand, made the most of his brief reprieve and ripped into the bowling, much like he did when he stopped the New Zealand attack in their most recent ODI World Cup match. Zaman used his matchup advantage against legspinner Ish Sodhi to devastating effect after leading Pakistan to a 61-run powerplay. He smashed two sixes to reach a 25-ball half-century quickly.
Milne delivers the decisive punch
The choice to bowl Milne for a third over in the opening half of the innings worked wonderfully for stand-in skipper Tim Southee as the pace had Zaman pull a delivery onto the stumps. As a result, Pakistan dropped to 127/6. Sodhi was able to carry on and finish his quota, dismissing both Azam Khan and Aamer Jamal.
Babar Azam struck his second fifty-seven off just thirty-six balls, but he was rapidly running out of partners. He managed to keep the guests involved by hitting two sixes, one to Southee and one to Santner. However, Pakistan’s demise was assured when their former captain was hit by Ben Sears with the first ball of the eighteenth over. Milne finished with 4 for 33, but Pakistan lost by 21 runs in the end.
Brief scores: Pakistan 173 in 19.3 overs (Babar Azam 66, Fakhar Zaman 50; Adam Milne 4-33) lost to New Zealand 194/8 in 20 overs (Finn Allen 74, Kane Williamson 26; Haris Rauf 3-38) by 21 runs.
The post Milne and Allen create a 2-0 lead for New Zealand. appeared first on Cricket Country.
