From 180 in 29 overs for 1 to 261 all out. That is the story of New Zealand’s innings in the second ODI. Credit to the Pakistani bowlers for they pulled back things in an absolute ripping manner.
New Zealand didn’t have the ideal start, losing the key opener in the first over and it was Naseem Shah who sent Fin Allen packing home. In the first match, Naseem dismissed Devon Conway for duck and in the second match, Fin Allen for 1.
So Naseem Shah has been pretty attacking with the new ball and it has paid off most of the times. But for the second wicket, Kane Williamson and Devon Conway shared 181 runs partnership which was huge considering the context of the game.
At one stage, New Zealand were eyeing on 350 with both batsmen set for big score and of course 9 wickets were still left to go. Devon Conway brought his century in 90 balls, it’s not the first time he did. In the test match too, after being dismissed for a duck in the first match, he went on to score a ton in the second. Unfortunately, he couldn’t hang on for a big score and as Naseem Shah in the 30th over provided breakthrough, there was no coming back for Pakistan from there.
It was Mohammad Nawaz’s day who picked four wickets for 42 runs and Pakistan chance to roll over all set New Zealand. First he dismissed Kane Williamson with a wonderful arm delivery which went straight and rattled the stumps. Then came Daryl Mitchell who edged to Mohammad Rizwan behind the wicket.
All of a sudden New Zealand looked shell shocked with no methodology of playing spin. One by one wickets kept falling and as Latham was given not out by the umpire, Babar Azam decided to go for a review and it worked on Pakistan’s favor. With that wicket, Nawaz got his third.
Then Glenn Phillips, while trying to pull a six over fine leg, hot directly into the hands of Fakhar Zaman who made no mistake there. A small partnership of 16 runs got up between Mitchell Santner and Michael Bracewell who looked comfortable on the crease. But Usama Mir had him plumbed in front of the wicket and this time, umpire’s call favoured Pakistan and New Zealand were left at 220 for 7.
From thereon, the job for Pakistani bowlers were much easier and what was left, it was undone by fast bowling pace duo Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah. Some decent batting from Mitchell Santner allowed New Zealand to cross 250 runs mark. The left hander scored