Sharjah: Riding on opener Ahmad Shehzad’s spectacular century and skipper Shahid Afridi’s breezy 55, Pakistan posted a whopping 364 for 7 in 50 overs in the third one-dayer of the five-match series at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium and thrashed New Zealand by 147 runs to take a 2-1 lead.
Pakistan amassed the highest ever score in a One Day International at Sharjah, breaking New Zealand’s record of 338 for 4 against Bangladesh in 1990, before bowling out the Kiwis for 217 runs in 38.2 overs. Spinners Afridi and Haris Sohail took three wickets each.
Chasing the mammoth total, New Zealand got off to a poor start. Mohammad Irfan took the wickets of openers Anton Devcich for a duck in the second over and Martin Guptill for 12 in the sixth over.
Ross Taylor and Tom Latham put on 45 runs in seven overs for the third wicket. Afridi provided the breakthrough, clean bowling Taylor with his slider for 31. Skipper Kane Williamson and Latham pushed the score to 115 with a 49-run partnership for the fourth wicket in 9.1 overs before Haris Sohail had Williamson caught and bowled for 46.
At the half way mark, New Zealand still needed 227 at a run rate of 9.08. Corey Anderson top edged a pull off Wahab Riaz to Afridi at mid-on. With half the team back in the pavilion for 139, New Zealand surrendered meekly. Latham, who hit 34, gifted Shehzad his first international wicket.
It was a splendid batting performance from Pakistan, who lost the second one dayer, to take the lead in the series. Shehzad’s knock of 113 runs came off 120 balls studded with 12 fours and two sixes. He added 63 for the opening wicket with Mohammad Hafeez (33), 70 for the second wicket with Younis Khan (35) and another 77 runs for the third wicket with Asad Shafiq (23) to put Pakistan on the road to a big total.
After Shehzad departed, Afridi and Sohail (39) destroyed the New Zealand attack to pile on 89 in just 7.4 overs for the fifth wicket. Afridi notched up his 38th half century in One Day Internationals with his 55 off just 26 balls, including six fours and three sixes. Pakistan scored 51 runs in three overs at the death through Sarfraz Ahmad (30 n.o.) and Sohail Tanvir (17 n.o.). Birthday boy Matt Henry was the only impressive New Zealand bowler with three wickets.
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