Christchurch: Pakistan won the 3rd ODI against New Zealand by 43 runs. Start by Mohammad Hafeez, Handle Carefully by Younis Khan + Misbah-ul-Haq & Shine by Umar Akmal + B00M B00M Afridi. Pakistan won at AMI Stadium, Christchurch against New Zealand after 18 years.
Toss: New Zealand won the toss & elected to field.
Pakistan Innings:
Mohammad Hafeez & Ahmed Shehzad were the openers from Pakistan. In the 2nd over, Pakistan lost its wicket when Ahmed Shehzad got out. It was a poor shot & he went back to pavilion for duck.
Kamran Akmal came in but failed to resist & also went back. The score of Pakistan was 8/2 in 3.1 overs. Then Younis Khan came in & tried to push the innings of Pakistan up. On the other hand Mohammad Hafeez was struggling.
After scoring the individual score of 12 runs, Younis Khan also left the pitch. In this rough situation, captain of the Test team, Misbah-ul-Haq came in to assist Mohammad Hafeez. The score of Pakistan was 56/3 in 13.3 overs.
From here, both tried to rebuild the innings of Pakistan. In the 18th over, Mohammad Hafeez succeeded in taking a single to register his FIFTY.
The run-rate was very slow. Several people were criticizing Misbah-ul-Haq for his defensive play but there was a strategy behind this sort of play.
At the score of 150 in 36th over, Misbah-ul-Haq got out because of poor selection of shot. He was trying to lift it above the fielders in the circle but caught out. He scored valuable 35 runs off 64 balls with 1 FOUR.
Then junior Akmal came in. He was looking aggressive. He played some beautiful shots.
In the 41st over, Mohammad Hafeez took a single to complete his maiden century. The crowd & the management were on their feet for his flawless display.
Now the time was for some lusty blow as the score of Pakistan was 183/4 in 42nd over. Umar Akmal was hammering Kiwi bowlers.
At the score of 202 in 43rd over, Mohammad Hafeez got out. He scored 115 off 144 balls with the help of 12 FOURS & 2 SIXES.
Then B00M B00M Afridi came in to rock the AMI Stadium. On the 2nd ball of the 45th over, Shahid Afridi stuck a beautiful SIX. On the 4th ball of the same over, Afridi struck another awesome SIX. The 5th ball of the over went for a FOUR.
In the next over, Afridi again came into action & threw the 3rd ball out of the park & 4th ball for a boundary. Kiwi’s were not looking good.
Again in the next over of Bennett, Afridi scored two saucy SIX & took a single to complete his FIFTY. He leveled the record of fastest FIFTY in New Zealand by McCullum. 50 off 19 balls.
Every Pakistani all around the world was enjoying this knock of Afridi. It became clear like mirror that B00M B00M Afridi will lead Pakistan in the ICC World Cup 2011.
At the last ball of the 47th over, Umar Akmal got out after his liberating innings. He scored 44 runs off 29 balls with 4 FOURS & 2 SIXES.
Then the Lion of Pakistan Cricket came in. This was a dangerous moment for Black Caps as Pakistani players on the both end were aggressive.
Still 2 overs were left, in the 49th over, Afridi again smashed 3 balls for boundaries. Now the score of Pakistan was 287/6. This was like a bad dream for Kiwi’s.
At the 2nd ball of the last over, the most enjoying & deliberate innings of B00M B00M came to an end. Bennett was the man to take the expensive wicket.
Then Wahab Riaz came in. He & Abdul Razzaq took a couple of singles/doubles to reach 293.
So, Pakistan succeeded in scoring 293/7 in 50.0 overs. This was a team work.
New Zealand Innings:
Mr. Guptil & Mr. How started the innings in some dashing style. Pakistani bowlers were not looking good.
After scoring 24 runs off 25 balls with 3 FOURS & 1 SIX, Jamie How got out at the ball of Sohail Tanvir. Umar Akmal took the stunning catch. The score of New Zealand was 44/1 in 7.4 overs.
Then after the addition of 24 runs, the captain of the Kiwi’s ship Taylor also left the pitch. Then Scott Styris came in but here Guptil went back to pavilion. He scored 39 runs of 39 balls with 4 FOURS & 2 SIXES.
When Williamson came, the score of New Zealand was 80/3 in 14.5 overs. Williamson started building innings with Scott.
Both were teasing Pakistani bowlers. At the ball of the ton maker, Styris got out. He scored 46 runs off 67 balls with the help of 1 FOUR. His catch was dropped by Sohail Tanvir in the start of his innings.
Here the danger man, Brendon McCullum came in. But after some time Williamson also got out. This was the crucial moment for Kiwis. He scored 42 runs off 63 balls with the help of 1 FOUR.
Jacob Oram came in to lift the innings. After scoring 12 runs, McCullum got out. He was run-out by Umar Akmal. The score of New Zealand was 182/6 in 37.2 overs.
Woodcock was the new batsman. After the partnership between Oram & Woodcock. Oram got out at the ball of Tanvir.
Then Mills came in but then Woodcock got out. He was clean bowled by full in-swinging yorker of Umar Gul.
At the score of 232 in 46.6 overs, Mills also got out. He scored 17 runs of 18 balls with the help of 2 FOURS. 9 men of New Zealand were down & the target was still far away. Southee & Bannett failed to complete the mission but at least remained not-out.
At the end of the 50th over, the score of New Zealand was 250/9. This was a disappointing moment for Black Caps & its fans but not for Pakistan & its fans.
Result: Pakistan won by 43 runs.
Man Of The Match: Mohammad Hafeez (Pakistan).
Many many congratulations to Pakistan on this superb win. The 4th ODI will be played at Naiper on February 01, 2011. The match will start at 14:00 (local), 01:00 (GMT). Best of Luck to both teams.
Note: For watching the blazing innings of BOOM BOOM & his squad, please click here.
