New Zealand convincingly defeated Pakistan by five wickets in the tri-nation series final at the National Bank Stadium, Karachi, on Friday.
Middle-order batters Daryl Mitchel (57) and Tom Latham (56) fifties helped the Kiwis chase a 243-run target in 45.2 overs with five wickets in hand.
Devon Conway contributed with 48 while Kane Williamson scored 34 runs.
For Pakistan, Naseem Shah took two wickets for 43 runs in his eight overs. Shaheen Shah Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, and Salman Ali Agha bagged one wicket apiece.
Earlier, New Zealand pace bowler Will O’Rourke took four wickets to restrict Pakistan to a modest 242 runs.
O’Rourke finished with 4-43 and was ably supported by spinners Mitchell Santner (2-20) and Michael Bracewell (2-38) as Pakistan were dismissed in 49.3 overs after they won the toss and batted.
Skipper Mohammad Rizwan top-scored with a 76-ball 46, while Salman Agha hit 45 off 65 balls, with slow and variable bounce on the National Stadium pitch proving tough for batting.
The final is a dress rehearsal for the opening match of the Champions Trophy between the same teams at the same venue on Wednesday.
Pakistan lost opener Fakhar Zaman to O’Rourke in the fourth over for 10 and then Saud Shakeel for eight.
Pakistan storm into tri-series final with record-breaking chase
Babar Azam looked good for his 29 runs, hitting four boundaries and a six, and reached 6,000 runs scored in one-day internationals when he was on 10.
He was playing his 123rd innings, the joint fastest to reach the 6,000-runs milestone with South African Hashim Amla.
Azam fell to a miscued shot off Nathan Smith, leaving Pakistan struggling at 54-3.
Rizwan and Agha, who shared a match-winning 260-run partnership against South Africa on Wednesday, then revived the innings with an 88-run stand.
Rizwan hit four boundaries and a six but he and Agha fell within 19 runs of each other to end any hope of a big total.
Tayyab Tahir hit a 33-ball 38, also with four boundaries and a six, while Faheem Ashraf (22) and Naseem Shah (19) added 39 invaluable runs to get Pakistan past 240.
Comments