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| @Ben Sears Celebrating his Maiden 5 Wicket haul. |
The April 2nd ODI match between New Zealand and Pakistan at Seddon Park Hamilton delivered an exciting contest which displayed remarkable attributes from both teams. The highlight of the match came when New Zealand batting sensation Mitchell Hay scored an impressive 99 runs which led his team to an 84-run triumph over Pakistan. The match combined with his solid performance from other New Zealanders led to their dominant ODI series victory.
Match Summary :
New Zealand Innings :
Total: 292/8 in 50 overs,.
Top Performers :
- The batsman Mitchell Hay finished the match without defeat at 99 runs but fell short of his first ODI century.
- Nick Kelly contributed 41 runs.
- The valuable contribution of Muhammad Abbas included his 41-run batting performance.
Top Performers :
- Faheem Ashraf battled to score 73 runs in the match.
- Naseem Shah added 51 runs.
Bowling Highlights :
New Zealand :
- During his outstanding performance Ben Sears took down five batsmen while giving up only 59 runs which became his career best.
- The bowling performance of Jacob Duffy secured three wickets while he received solid support from his teammate.
- The first twelve overs brought five out of Pakistan's initial wickets before they reached 32 runs. The crucial partnership between Faheem Ashraf and Naseem Shah gave Pakistan some stability by scoring 73 runs and 51 runs respectively. The team's attempts proved inadequate to achieve their target score.
Match Highlights :
The New Zealand batting team selected first-batting under overcast skies to achieve 292 runs before losing eight wickets in 50 overs. Mitchell Hay became the star of the match by scoring an unbeaten 99 runs yet he fell just short of his first ODI century. Henry Nicholls (41) and Muhammad Abbas (35) strengthened the batting performance during the match.
The Pakistani batting order made an early collapse that resulted in 32 wickets lost during the first 12 overs. In the 41.2 over match Pakistan was eliminated after Faheem Ashraf scored 58 runs before the team lost all their wickets.
During New Zealand's bowling effort Pacer Ben Sears achieved his career-best numbers by taking 5 wickets while giving away 59 runs. The batting order of Pakistan suffered severe damage as Jacob Duffy and Ben Sears combined to take six wickets between them.
Key Performers :
During New Zealand Bowling Ben Sears achieved his career's best figures of 5/59 to leave Pakistan's batters helpless. Through his three wicket performance Jacob Duffy helped Duffy create ongoing bowling pressure toward Pakistan's batting side.
Pakistan's batting failed early because captain Babar Azam and other key players got dismissed which exposed major weaknesses in their batting strategy leading to their defeat.
Series Context :
The New Zealand team achieved a notable victory by doing so without the presence of key players Mark Chapman who was injured and Will Young who was on paternity leave because of their strong team depth. In this game Rhys Mariu made his debut appearance as a new player. The Pakistani team made four substitutions after the injuries to Usman Khan and Naseem Shah yet failed to generate the desired results.
Looking Ahead :
The match on April 5 marks the last ODI which will be played at Mount Maunganui. New Zealand aims to complete a clean sweep against Pakistan but Pakistan needs to recover their performance to prevent a complete series defeat. The Pakistan team needs to solve batting problems and strengthen their bowling team in order to compete at the international level.
In this series New Zealand displayed their ability to bounce back while Pakistan struggles to maintain reliable performance standards in international cricket matches.
Brief Scores :
New Zealand Innings : 292/8 (50 Overs) Mitchell Hay 99* off 78 Balls (7 fours And 7 Sixes), Muhammad Abbas 31 off 66 Balls (3 Fours).
Pakistan Bowling : Sufiyan Muqeem 2/33 (10 Overs), Mohammad Wasim Jr. 2/78 (10 Overs).
Pakistan Innings : 208/10 (42.2 Overs) Faheem Ashraf 73 off 80 Balls (6 Fours And 3 Sixes), Naseem Shah 51 off 44 Balls (4 Fours And 4 Sixes).
New Zealand Bowling : Ben Sears 5/59 (9.2 Overs), Jacob Duffy 3/35 (8 Overs).
Result : New Zealand Win by 84 Runs and Claim the Series 2-0.
