A brilliant innings of 131* from 124 deliveries from Ross Taylor helped New Zealand post a mammoth total of 302 and then the bowlers did their job bowling out Pakistan for a meagre total of 192 to win the match by 110 runs at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium. Read on for more!
New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat first but got off to a bad start as Brendon McCullum was cleaned up by Shoaib Akhtar in the first over of the innings after the former had hit him for a six off a free-hit.
Jamie How and Martin Guptill then played cautiously as they put on 47 runs for the second wicket, but How was trapped leg before wicket by Umar Gul in the 13th over for four off 29 balls.
Birthday boy Ross Taylor got off to a lucky start as he opened his account by edging Akhtar between wicketkeeper and first slip . A powerful square cut to the fence took his tally to 8; he then had a big let- off as he was dropped by Wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal, in what seemed to be a simple regulation catch!
Guptill and Taylor then added 57 runs in 16 overs as Guptill brought up his 11th one-day half-century off 86 balls, but he didn't last long as he was bowled by Afridi for 57 and in the next over Mohammad Hafeez trapped James Franklin (1) leg before wicket to reduce New Zealand to 113 for 4 in the 30th over.
Taylor and Scott Styris (28) then added 62 runs for the fifth wicket as Taylor brought up his half-century off 78 deliveries. Styris (28) then departed in the 42nd over as he was trapped leg before wicket by Gul. But it was Taylor's day as he brought up his century off 117 deliveries and from 210-6 in the 46th over, Taylor along with Jacob Oram (25 off nine balls) blasted 92 runs from 24 deliveries to help New Zealand post 302. Taylor remained unbeaten on 131 off 124 deliveries with eight hits to the fence and a staggering seven hits over it!
In reply, Pakistan got off to a disastrous start as they were reduced to 23 for 4 in the eighth over with Tim Southee getting the wickets of Mohammad Hafeez and Kamran Akmal, while Kyle Mills getting the wickets of Ahmed Shehzad and Younis Khan.
Misbah-ul-Haq (7) and Umar Akmal (38) showed some resistance as they added 22 for the fifth wicket but Southee then picked up his third as he had Misbah-ul-Haq caught by Styris for seven. A cameo from skipper Shahid Afridi (17 off 9 deliveries with two 4's and one six) didn't help the cause as he soon departed being cleaned up by Oram.
Akmal and Abdul Razzaq tried to resurrect the innings as they added 36 runs for the seventh wicket but Nathan McCullum removed Umar Akmal caught by Oram in the 29th over and four overs later Abdur Rehman was trapped leg before wicket by the same bowler to reduce Pakistan to 125 for 8 in the 33rd over.
Abdul Razzaq and Umar Gul gave some sort of fight with a 66-run stand for the ninth wicket but it was in vain as Scott Styris finished off the game in the 42nd over with the wickets of Razzaq and Akhtar.
The lone shining star with the bat for Pakistan was Razzaq, scoring 62 off 74 deliveries with nine hits to the fence. Umar Gul remained not out on 34 off 25 deliveries with three hits to the fence and one over it.
Tim Southee was the pick of the bowlers for New Zealand with figures of 3 for 25.
Ross Taylor was named the man of the match for his brilliant innings of 131 off 124 balls.
Result: New Zealand won by 110 runs
Scores: New Zealand: 302/7
Pakistan: 192/10
Man of the Match: Ross Taylor
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