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Tuesday, February 1, 2011

SHAHID AFRIDI LAUDS BOWLERS AFTER NAPIER WIN


Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi praised the efforts of his bowlers after the team won the fourth match of the six-match One Day International series against New Zealand at Napier.
The Kiwi team batted first after winning the toss but Pakistani bowlers started superbly. They did not allow the Blackcaps to score runs freely in the opening overs and took five quick wickets to put the hosts on the back foot.
Although New Zealand managed to post a decent total courtesy their middle-order batsmen, Pakistan chased down the target with 2 wickets and 6 balls to spare.
Afridi said that the wicket was good for batting and he expected more runs from the Kiwi team after they batted first.
The flamboyant all-rounder stated, “I think the way the boys bowled with the new ball, especially on this track which is like heaven for batsmen, it was really well and full credit goes to them.”
The Pakistan captain praised the efforts of pacer Wahab Riaz in particular and said that he has been working hard to do well for the team. He further said that Wahab was mentally very tough and has been a great addition to the team in all three formats of the game.
Moreover, Afridi did not hesitate at all in praising the efforts of the veteran middle-order batsman Misbah-ul-Haq, who played a brilliant innings in the match.
Misbah has been performing consistently well for his team recently. He is also a likely candidate for the World Cup captaincy of Pakistan but has been completely focused on his job as a senior member of the team.
Pakistan were struggling at one stage in the match on Tuesday when three of their top-order batsmen were back in the pavilion for 84 runs. Misbah joined the dependable Younis Khan at the crease and the pair took the team out of trouble with an 89-run partnership.
Pakistan collapsed in the later stages of the innings but Misbah guided his team to victory with a splendid innings of 93 runs off 91 balls. The victory was special for the visitors as it was their first ODI win at Napier.
The victory gave Pakistan a 2-1 lead in the series with two more matches still to be played. The home team has to win the next match on 3 February, 2011 in order to stay alive in the series.

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Pakistan clinch thriller in fourth ODI

Pakistan clinch thriller in fourth ODI
Riding on a match-winning knock of 93 not out by Misbah ul-Haq, Pakistan clinched the fourth ODI by two wickets at Napier to take a 2-1 lead.


Click here for scorecard



The Kiwis posted 262 for the loss of seven wickets against Pakistan in Napier.
With the six-match series tied at 1-1, the Black Caps aimed to take the initiative when opting to bat first, but Pakistan silenced the home crowd by claiming five wickets inside the first 25 overs.

Franklin - a last-minute replacement for the injured Jesse Ryder - managed 62 off 75 balls triggering a spate of game-saving lower-order partnerships while McCullum led a late surge with his unbeaten 53 to give the hosts a competitive total.

Paceman Wahab Riaz ended the innings with figures of three for 51 having received ample support from Abdul Razzaq, Mohammad Hafeez and skipper Shahid Afridi who grabbed a wicket each.

Openers Martin Guptill and Jamie How were looking to build on a good start for New Zealand with some blistering boundary shots to race away to 40, but it proved to be a false dawn.

Pakistan ripped through the top order in the next three overs to send back Guptill for 21, How for 13 and Ross Taylor for four with Riaz claiming two scalps around Razzaq's wicket.

The hosts were unable to settle down and that showed in their running as well when a communication breakdown led to Scott Styris (11) being run out at the non-striker's end. Mohammad Hafeez was the next Pakistan bowler to celebrate a wicket, as Kane Williamson's (15) attempted shot over midwicket only gave Younis Khan his third catch of the day.

Franklin and Brendon McCullum then managed a steady spell with the bat for New Zealand, with the sixth-wicket stand even crossing 50, but Riaz removed the latter after his quickfire 37.

Franklin proved to be a face saver for the hosts, smashing three boundaries off Sohail Tanvir to reach his fifty, but Afridi ended his run - and the 64 run stand he had built with Nathan - forcing the pull shot for a catch by Riaz at backward square leg.

Nathan blasted five boundaries and a six during his 58-ball innings as he and captain Daniel Vettori (13 not out) held a 57-run stand to see New Zealand safely through to the end of 50 overs.

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Misbah takes Pakistan home


Pakistan continued to show they are masters of making mountains out of molehills, but Misbah-ul-Haq's supremely paced innings and Sohail Tanvir's nerveless hitting took them to a tense win in Napier that puts them 2-1 up. New Zealand had earlier showed the benefits of stacking their side with allrounders as they recovered from an all-too-familiar top-order collapse to post a respectable total but it didn't prove enough.
75 overs Pakistan 111 for 3 (Shehzad 42, Younis 18*, Misbah 15*) need another 152 runs to beat New Zealand 262 for 7 (Franklin 62, N McCullum 53*, Riaz 3-51)
New Zealand's top-order had perished to some daft shots, and Pakistan's batsmen continued that trend to keep the game balanced halfway through the chase in Napier. The visitors had their elder statesmen in the middle-order, Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan, were steadily setting the stage for the explosive but unpredictable trio of Shahid Afridi, Umar Akmal and Abdul Razzaq to take over.
Pakistan made a bright start to the chase, with Ahmed Shehzad smashing four fours in the first three overs. Mohammad Hafeez also began to cut loose after offspinner Nathan McCullum was brought into the attack as early as the sixth over - but he fell to an outstanding leaping catch from Ross Taylor at first slip.
Shehzad kept the boundary-count high, stepping out to launch Daniel Vettori over long-off for six and with Kamran Akmal peppering the off-side rope, Pakistan were coasting along. Both though fell to tame shots to short midwicket - Shehzad flicking and Kamran sweeping - to let New Zealand claw back into the game. That brought together Misbah and Younis who hit no boundaries but took the singles to prepare Pakistan for a late onslaught.
New Zealand 262 for 7 (Franklin 62, N McCullum 53*, Riaz 3-51) v Pakistan
New Zealand reaped the benefits of stacking their side with allrounders as they recovered from an all-too-familiar top-order collapse to post a respectable total against Pakistan. James Franklin made his third half-century in four innings to firm up a World Cup spot, and with the help of the McCullum brothers mounted a lower-order rescue that left a challenge ahead of Pakistan's batsmen.
The home side's famously fragile top order couldn't have asked for better conditions to get their groove back: a postcard-perfect day in Napier, the chance to bat first on a pancake-flat track, and the short boundaries and fast outfield at McLean Park.
All seemed to be going to plan when Martin Guptill and Jamie How provided New Zealand with a fast start. It was never more rosy than when Guptill hammered Abdul Razzaq over midwicket for six after having crashed him past backward point for four to leave the home side at 37 for 0 in six overs. That over cost Razzaq 12 runs, but he only conceded four more in a stifling seven-over opening burst.
The collapse started when Guptill played the first of a wide variety of bad shots from New Zealand's batsmen to get themselves out. He flicked an amiable leg-stump delivery from Wahab Riaz to Younis Khan at midwicket in the seventh over. A string of dot balls from Razzaq in the next over prompted How to pull the first loose ball on offer imperiously, but straight to Umar Akmal at deep square leg. Three balls later, Ross Taylor chased a wide and full delivery and his expansive drive ended in first slip's hands. New Zealand had tumbled to 44 for 3.
Kane Williamson and Scott Styris then set about painstakingly rebuilding the innings, but just when the runs started to flow again, there was a brainfade and both batsmen were nearly at the same end after Williamson pushed the ball towards backward point. Styris was gone for 11 as Pakistan took control. Worse followed for the hosts when Williamson clubbed Mohammad Hafeez to long-on soon after.
Brendon McCullum then jumpstarted the innings with a typically energetic cameo. As always, he didn't let the match situation affect his game, belting a clutch of boundaries to race to a run-a-ball 37 before nicking an angling delivery from Wahab Riaz.
Franklin then took over, surviving some nervy moments and patiently working the ball around. He moved to 40 off 63 balls, ensuring New Zealand had the wickets in hand to capitalise on the batting Powerplay. Once the restrictions came on, he picked off four boundaries in the first two overs, before Shahid Afridi handcuffed him with the legstump line and had him holing out to deep fine leg in the 44th over.
The responsibility passed to Nathan McCullum with that wicket, and he answered with his maiden one-day half-century. He had plenty of wild swipes early on, before reeling off boundaries through cover and extra cover. His high-risk paddles off the quicks also paid off, yielding a couple of fours to fine leg. The highlight of the innings was a murderous carve over extra cover for six in the penultimate over.
Besides the resilience of their lower-order, New Zealand also had the indiscipline of the Pakistan bowling to thank, as 19 wides were sprayed. New Zealand smashed 170 runs in the second half of the innings, but that might still not be enough on a track which has nothing in it for the bowlers.
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