Wellington : A solid 82 by Henry Nicholls followed by a ninth-wicket batting blitz carried New Zealand to a convincing 70-run victory in the opening one-day international against Pakistan in Wellington on Monday.
In reply to New Zealand’s 280-8, Pakistan were skittled out for 210 with four overs remaining. Nicholls apart, New Zealand’s recognised run-makers struggled against a fired-up Pakistan attack, with the other six batsmen in the top seven contributing just 47 in total.
The hosts were in a perilous position at 99-6 before Mitchell Santner joined Nicholls in a 79-run stand for the seventh wicket. Matt Henry and Mitchell McClenaghan then added 73 off 33 balls in a closing onslaught to ensure a target which eventually proved too much for Pakistan.
“If we’re going to be honest we should have got them out for 200-odd, seeing the start we had,” a disappointed Pakistan batting coach Grant Flower said. “The short ball worked to a certain extent but we overdid it, and we didn’t learn and we just didn’t bowl enough yorkers.”
Man-of-the-match Nicholls, only in the side as cover for the injured Ross Taylor, said it was a matter of making the most of his opportunity.
“It’s nice to be able to do that,” he said, adding he was philosophical about being dropped by Mohammad Hafeez on 15.
Earlier, After Azhar Ali (19) and Ahmed Shehzad (13) fell early in Pakistan’s innings, Hafeez and Babar Azam lifted Pakistan’s confidence. They cruised past the 100 mark in the 23rd over, the same as New Zealand, but with only two wickets down.
New Zealand
Extras: (B4, Lb3, w13)……………..20
Total: (For8 wickets, 50 overs) 280
Bowling: Irfan 10-0-43-2 (w1), Amir 8.1-0-28-3, Anwar Ali 9.5-0-66-3, W Riaz 10-0-67-0, I Wasim 8-0-47-0, A Ali 4-0-22-0.
Pakistan
A Ali c Henry b Elliott………………..19
A Shehzad c Williamson b Elliott…13
M Hafeez c Henry b Williamson….42
B Azam c Nicholls b Anderson…… 62
S Maqsood c sub b Elliott…………..10
S Ahmed c Anderson b Boult……..30
I Wasim c Ronchi b Santner………….1
A Ali c Latham b Boult………………16
W Riaz not out…………………………..5
M Amir b Boult………………………….0
M Irfan b Boult…………………………..0
Extras: (Lb2, W10)…………………..12
Total: (All out)………………………210
Bowling: Henry 8-0-43-0, Boult 9-1-40-4, Elliott 10-1-43-3, Anderson 9-1-35-1, Santner 8-0-36-1, Williamson 2-0-11-1.
