Will O’ Rourke 3 wickets will now be rated as the best figures in beating the Pakistan full strength team. Will O Rourke stellar performance means that New Zealand found another pace bowler in Pakistan. A disciplined performance from New Zealand’s bowling attack, particularly the pace duo of Will O’Rourke and Ben Sears, saw them edge Pakistan by four runs and take a 2-1 lead in the series. There’s a Super Smash feel to the New Zealand squad in Pakistan, and that was particularly true of the seam-bowling duo of Sears and Will O’Rourke.
Will O’Rourke was yet to make his debut while Sears had played ten T20Is before this tour while, but the pair was instrumental in halting Pakistan’s early charge from the get-go.
Pitch and Toss
Lahore has always been a ground which has favored the team batting first. The captain who wins the toss will want to bat first as chasing becomes a tad bit difficult as the ball tends to slow down as the spinners tend to have a huge say. A score in the range of 165-180 should be a good total to defend as per the trend at this venue.
Pakistan won the toss and chose to bowl first and bought in Mohammad Aamir for Shaheen Afridi and Fakhar Zaman for Irfan Khan Niazi.
New Zealand batting first also made 3 changes in the squad bringing in Tom Blundell, Josh Clarkson and Ben Sears.
Tim Robinson and Tom Blundell powers NZ to 56 runs in the Powerplay.
Pakistan had had put New Zealand in, making five changes to the side as Mohammad Amir, Imad and Zaman Khan all returned. But it was New Zealand who landed the telling early blows as Tim Robinson and Tom Blundell put the bowlers to the sword in the powerplay, racing to 56 in the first five overs.
The innings was set up by a good stand from the openers. While Tom Blundell did the fast-moving early on, hitting a 15-ball 28, his partner Tim Robinson wasn’t far behind. Together the duo put on 56 inside the powerplay. The dismissal of Blundell saw Pakistan rein New Zealand in somewhat, but Robinson’s explosive knock – he smashed 51 off 36 before Abbas Afridi removed him – put New Zealand in a commanding position at the halfway mark.
Abbas Afridi and spinners choke NZ in the middle overs.
Pakistan rung in the changes in the fast-bowling department, with Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah both missing out. In came Amir, but it was Abbas who stood out, bowling some of the toughest overs and coming away with both credit and wickets. After a first over where New Zealand targeted him in the powerplay, he returned and provided an immediate much-needed breakthrough as the explosive Robinson miscued him into the night sky.
For some reason not called upon for his full quota, Abbas’ final over – the penultimate one of the innings – was the pick of the bunch. A mix of cutters, hard lengths and perfect yorkers saw Abbas take two and concede just five as New Zealand continued to be dragged back. Abbas’ figures of 3 for 20 possibly left Babar Azam wondering why he hadn’t used him for the full four.
Pakistan hit back with Zaman Khan breaking that threatening opening stand by getting Blundell. However Robinson had the belligerent company of Dean Foxcroft to follow. The latter smacked three sixes in a quickfire partnership that powered the innings along. His knock pushed New Zealand close to the 150-mark after Robinson had become Abbas Afridi’s first victim after getting 51. Afridi struck twice more through the middle overs to peg New Zealand back although they got a boost towards the back end of the innings.
Michael Bracewell cameo propels Pakistan to 178 for 7
It’s perhaps on-brand for Shadab Khan’s reputation as an allrounder that despite not bowling a single delivery for the first time in a completed T20I innings, he was responsible for the most impressive Pakistan contribution in the field. It took place in the 14th over of the New Zealand innings, when Mark Chapman – Pakistan’s bête noire on tours like these – slapped one over the head of wide mid-off.
Or so he thought. Shadab moved to his left and flung himself into the air with feline-like lethality. The speed of the ball knocked his right hand off as he held on to it with his left. It took a disbelieving crowd a few moments to register what had happened, but it hampered New Zealand’s death-overs push. Michael Bracewell’s 27 with a couple of boundaries pushed the visitors to a competitive total of 178.
Sears and Will O’Rourke hold their own as Pakistan stutter in the Powerplay
There’s a Super Smash feel to the New Zealand squad in Pakistan, and that was particularly true of the seam-bowling duo of Sears and Will O’Rourke. Sears had played ten T20Is before this tour while Will O’Rourke was yet to make his debut, but the pair was instrumental in halting Pakistan’s early charge from the get-go.
While Pakistan targeted Jacob Duffy, Will O’Rourke struck in his first over, drawing Babar into a cover drive, and the extra bounce saw him paddle it to cover-point on the full.
He also dismissed the other opener, Saim Ayub, who was put down in the first over. Sears kept New Zealand plugging away as he prized out Usman Khan to leave Pakistan in trouble. The pair’s ability to keep the runs quiet at the same time allowed Michael Bracewell to turn to them whenever pressure needed to be applied, a motif that continued right through the innings. The pair was brought later, and gave their captain the wickets of Iftikhar and Fakhar to kill the game off, combining for figures of 8-0-54-5.
Fakhar Zaman kept Pakistan in the hunt with 45 ball 61
In pursuit of a target of 179, Pakistan lost early wickets, slumping to 46 for 3 before the powerplay was over. Only a spirited performance by New Zealand’s old foe Fakhar Zaman kept the game alive for Pakistan. Fakhar marked his return to the side with a 45-ball 61, lashing three sixes along the way, but when an off-color Iftikhar Ahmed and he fell in consecutive overs, Pakistan’s fate was sealed.
Zaman’s knock along with a timely 23 from Iftikhar Ahmed ensured that Pakistan were never out of the chase at any point. However, their quest underwent another hiccup when they lost three in the space of 10 balls including those of Zaman and Ahmed. However, with 28 needed from the last two overs, Imad Wasim stepped in. He hit two fours off the penultimate over from Jacob Duffy leaving 18 off the final over bowled by James Neesham.
18 runs required in the Final over but Jimmy Neesham make Pakistan fell 4 short giving 14 runs.
Usama Mir struck the first ball off the over for a four but Neesham managed to find a yorker to castle him next ball. However as Wasim got back on strike, he put the pressure back on Neesham who erred with a wide first and then conceded a boundary off the penultimate ball. With 5 needed off the final delivery, Neesham managed to keep a wide line, away from Wasim’s hitting arc and ended up conceding just a single to clinch a thriller, and ensuring that the visitors don’t lose the series.
Pakistan kept the game alive till the very last ball, though, thanks to Imad Wasim. A cagey final over from Jimmy Neesham, in which he had to defend 17, ended with Pakistan needing six of the final ball, and a scythed blow behind point was not enough to pull off the heist.
Four days after failing to defend 178 in Rawalpindi, Pakistan failed to chase down the same target in Lahore on Thursday. A disciplined performance from New Zealand’s bowling attack, particularly the pace duo of Will O’Rourke and Ben Sears, saw them edge Pakistan by four runs and take a 2-1 lead in the series.
Presentations and Road Ahead.
Babar Azam the loosing skipper said :
“They started off nicely but our bowlers made a good comeback, we stuck to a length. In first six overs, we lost quite a number of wickets, Fakhar’s innings was outstanding, unfortunately we couldn’t chase it down. Imad also played a good innings,”
“It was a different surface, the average score here is 190 and we did well to restrict them and it was a chaseable total. We made some changes due to injuries but our youngsters did well. Our plan was to test our bench strength and we tried out different combinations. We are trying something new and different in every game. Hopefully, we will be settled before going to the T20 World Cup,” he added.
Michael Bracewell the winning skipper said :
“When you learn about young guys is when the team is under pressure. The Pakistan bowlers bowled particularly well in the death and restricted us to a par score. The way Tim and Blundell got off at the start, they put us on top and we thought about getting 200 in the end but credit to the Pakistani bowlers for restricting us,”
“It’s a huge positive for us that we are able to give experience to new guys. We got a brilliant all-rounder in James Neesham bowling in the backend. Will O’Rourke had a particularly brilliant game and our bowling was good at the death,” he added.
Will O’Rourke Player of the Match for his 3 wickets said :
“I saw them going to the slower balls and we also focused on bowling slower ones. New ball skidding on nicely, we got off to a good start, taking pace off the ball made the batters struggle. We come together and talk what happened, we learn from every match. It’s been amazing, the crowd is very loud out there,”
We have witnessed a nail-biter at Lahore and the Kiwis have prevailed eventually in the duel! Once New Zealand posted 178 on the board, they must have had the belief in themselves to defend it as the wicket was holding up a bit. Pakistan lost their skipper, Babar Azam early courtesy Will O’Rourke and that set them back.
Ayub looked promising in his short stay but holed out. Usman couldn’t make an impact tonight as the hosts were in a bit of trouble at 46/3. Shadab struggled for rhythm as well and his short stay was brought to an end by Bracewell. Fakhar Zaman and Iftikhar joined hands and did the rebuilding job.
Once they got their eye in, they played their shots as well and stitched a 59-run stand together. But, Iftikhar fell against the run of play and Fakhar also fell soon after scoring his fifty. Imad Wasim came in and played a breezy cameo but he had too much to do. Pakistan needed a maximum off the final ball and Neesham kept his cool and delivered for his side. Will O’Rourke and Ben Sears were the pick of the bowlers for the visitors.
The final T20I will be played on Friday and Pakistan will now only have to play for pride in order to draw the series 2-2.