(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Bowlers deliver as Afridis men outclass New Zealand with seven-wicket victory in Dubai Pakistan’s Sarfraz Ahmed plays a shot against New Zealand at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday night. — KT photo by Shihab
Dubai — Aggressive New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson was hitting sixes for fun raising the Kiwi hopes of posting an imposing total. But the Pakistani bowlers had the last laugh as they eventually managed to restrict the visitors to a modest score inspiring their opening batsman Sarfraz Ahmed to suck the life out of the Kiwis with clinical precision.
After the debacle in their last match in Sharjah against the same opponents the Pakistanis could not have hoped for a better performance. Their adoring fans at the state-of-the-art Dubai International Cricket Stadium had plenty to cheer about as Shahid Afridi’s men simply outclassed New Zealand with a comprehensive seven-wicket win in the first game of the two-match T20I series.
A total of 135 was never going to be enough on a beautiful wicket in Dubai and Sarfraz Ahmed (76 not out 64 balls eight fours two sixes) that immensely talented wicketkeeper-batsman made sure the fans had a night to remember as Pakistan chased down the target in 19.1 overs. That was achieved despite the athletic efforts from the Kiwis on the field as their sharpness resulted in two run-outs. But Kane Wiliamson their skipper knew great fielding alone could never win a match against a talented Pakistani team on a good surface.
Popular Bollywood numbers and pretty cheerleaders may have brought cheers from the crowd during the short breaks between overs but it was Sarfraz whose stunning stroke-play in his fifth T20I game helped the fans find their true voice.
Sarfraz’s 51-run partnership for the first wicket with Awais Zia (20) extinguished the Kiwi hopes of staging a fightback. It was the first half century for the 27-year-old Karachi player in T20Is. Despite losing two more teammates — Mohammad Hafeez (2) and Haris Sohail (11) — he continued to bat with authority and helped Pakistan reach home with Umar Akmal (27 not out 14 balls three fours one six) who finished the match in style with a six off Jimmy Neesham.
Of course the ride would not have been so easy for the Pakistan batsmen if their bowlers had not delivered such a splendid performance on a good batting wicket after their maverick captain Shahid Afridi had opted to field.
Corey Anderson plays a shot during the match against Pakistan in Dubai — KT photo by Shihab
Their pace bowlers gave the team a flying start by removing three wickets in the first three overs. But Anderson (48 37 balls four sixes one four) was in magnificent form and he shared two very crucial partnerships with Martin Guptill (32 30 balls two fours one six) and wicketkeeper-batsman Luke Ronchi (33 28 balls four fours ) with the second one _ a 51-run partnership for the fifth wicket _ coming in just 35 balls.
After Afridi put New Zealand in the all-rounder showed he was not afraid of making those innovative changes. The first two overs from the impressive Anwer Ali (1/15) and Sohail Tanvir (2/22) may have yielded two very crucial wickets Afridi still decided to bring in the imposing Mohammad Irfan (2/27).
The ploy worked. Using his height to great effect Irfan managed to extract awkward bounce from a length ball and Ross Taylor (4) New Zealand’s best batsman could only give a simple catch to Umar Akmal at point. This was after Anwer and Tanvir had removed skipper Williamson (0) and number three Anton Devcich (1) in the first two overs with both getting lbw decisions in their favour.
Anderson then joined hands with opener Guptill to rebuild the innings after the team was reduced to 15 for three in three overs.
The duo batted sensibly rotating the strike and never missing a chance to punish the bad balls. And it seemed the Kiwis were nicely getting into a position from where they could really dominate when Anderson used his feet brilliantly and hit Mohammed Hafeez for a straight six bringing up the New Zealand 50 in 8.2 overs.
But Afridi then came into the scene with the ball in his hand and Guptill who was batting so well had no clue to one that came back sharply to disturb the stumps ending his 46-run partnership with Anderson for the fourth wicket.riturajkhaleejtimes.com
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