Player of the Match
Player of the Match

Right then that brings an end to our coverage for this ODI. Do join us for the third and final ODI on Saturday but for now, this is me (Rvel Zahid), signing off on behalf of Rashad Mahbub, K Vairavan and everyone else at ESPNcricinfo! Goodbye and take care!

Mitchell Hay, Player of the Match: Scoring a century didn't cross my mind...was just swinging for the hills and hoping really. we talked about taking game deep , it was really nice to form a partnership (with Abbas). Bowlers were awesome tonight and made job easy for me

Mohammad Rizwan, Pakistan Captain: (On his shoulder bruise) It is sore but it part of the game. We didn't do well as a batting group...didn't utilize the swing...Faheem Ashraf and Naseem Shah fought really well. It's little bit challenging conditions; the pace and bounce, different from Asian conditions but we shouldn't make excuses as professional cricketers and apply ourselves. New Zealand cricketers are disciplined and hit the hard lengths consistently. We are losing in key moments in last couple of months. Credit to Mitch Hay, the way he batted was amazing. We don't know much about the pitch in Tauranga. We will look at the conditions and do what the conditions demand from us (for the next game)

Michael Bracewell, New Zealand Captain:: Just the way we fought through the innings, lost few wickets in the middle, but the way we built partnerships was brilliant. Mitchell Hay played an outstanding innings. Partnership helped us get to a competitive total. It is a testament to the team, we just allow them to express themselves. There is no secret for what allows the new players to come in and perform straightaway. I said a number of times, our domestic game is in a really strong position. Even though not all of us have international experience, they put up strong performance. It has been a great summer and we have played some great cricket. For us it's just about doing the simple things and will look to finish on a high. (Sears) had a lot of injuries throughout his career. He's done exceptionally...put in a lot of work off the field to get himself ready. Glad to see him get the rewards for his hard work today.

New Zealand juggernaut keeps rolling and they consistently find ways to recover from tricky situations and then dominate, navigating through obstacles and winning from any situation. In contrast, Pakistan was not able to put together a concerted and consistent effort with the ball tonight, leaking far too many runs on a tacky pitch that offered plenty of help to seamers, in particular. Mitchell Hay played a sensational knock, and once again, brilliant game awareness by the middle order took them out of a precarious situation. It was yet another fine example of how to approach ODI cricket. Pakistan let things slip out of their control and the batting was abject as the top-order collapsed, unable to weather the storm from the quicks. Late resistance from Faheem Ashraf and the concussion substitute, for Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah prolonged the game and offered some valiant resistance and entertainment for the fans but it was always going to be a stiff task chasing the imposing target with not many wickets left in the tank. Pakistan continue to find themselves in a rut and will be desperate for a win in the last ODI while New Zealand will be keen to keep their record unblemished and sign off their summer on a high

41.2
W
Sears to Naseem Shah, OUT, Hurls down a menacing shorter one on a teasing off-stump line, backs away and tries to slap it over cover, gets a thick outside edge, Hay jumps full-stretch and catches it over the top of his head. Sears finishes with a brilliant fifer as New Zealand win the series and the match with a big margin of 84 runs. Faheem and Naseem showed incredible resistance and fightback but it was a mountain to climb after the collapse. Handshakes all around. Another clinical performance by the home team. Stick around for presentation

Naseem Shah c †Hay b Sears 51 (57m 44b 4x4 4x6) SR: 115.9

Vishwesh Gaur: "DYK: Naseem Shah scored 50 runs batting 11th for Pakistan in an ODI, the first time in almost 9 years Mohammad Amir last did it in 2016 against England."

41.1
1
Sears to Sufiyan Muqeem, 1 run, That was sent miles up into the night-sky, O'Rourke backtracking at long-on, tumbles and fluffs it. Sufiyan took the bait and decided to go big downtown, didn't control his swing of the bat and was in trouble

END OF OVER:
41 | 5 Runs | PAK: 207/9 (86 runs required from 54 balls, RR: 5.04, RRR: 9.55)

  • Naseem Shah51 (43b)
  • Sufiyan Muqeem12 (9b)
  • Nathan Smith10-0-53-1
  • Ben Sears9-0-58-4

Arquam: "Naseem isn't a like-for-like replacement for Haris Rauf. :-)"

40.6
0
Smith to Naseem Shah, no run, Back of a length outside off, fierce bounce again, losing his shape as he tries to pull, wanted to slug that across the line
40.5
0
Smith to Naseem Shah, no run, Dug in short at middle, wanted to pull and gets beaten, sharp bounce
40.4
4
Smith to Naseem Shah, FOUR, Shot of class and high caliber! Short of a length and errs down leg, he languidly clips it off his hips towards long leg between two fielders for a four and brings up such a refreshing half-century. What a knock that too when you're not expecting to bat!
40.3
0
Smith to Naseem Shah, no run, back of a length around the line off, opens the face and steers it down to backward point
40.2
1
Smith to Sufiyan Muqeem, 1 run, Leathers it downtown and the ball was racing away; wanders down leg and forehands it as Bracewell swoops across to make a brilliant tumbling stop
40.1
0
Smith to Sufiyan Muqeem, no run, Backs away and gets followed, into his pads on a fuller-length, blocked

END OF OVER:
40 | 10 Runs | PAK: 202/9 (91 runs required from 60 balls, RR: 5.05, RRR: 9.10)

  • Naseem Shah47 (39b)
  • Sufiyan Muqeem11 (7b)
  • Ben Sears9-0-58-4
  • Nathan Smith9-0-48-1
39.6
4
Sears to Naseem Shah, FOUR, Swinging for the hills, took a step back, got on top of the bounce and bludgeoned it away over long-on for a four, one bounce over the rope. One hit away from fifty. Wait a moment, wasn't he injured? He looks supremely fit, tonking bowlers all over the park
39.6
1w
Sears to Naseem Shah, 1 wide, Short ball rises over his head, wide signaled
39.5
1
Sears to Sufiyan Muqeem, 1 run, Hard length, slanted across off, shuffles across his stumps, lifts his front leg and pulls it to deep fine
39.4
0
Sears to Sufiyan Muqeem, no run, Banged in shortish and follows him, fails to biff a pull on this occasion

Pakistan 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st6Imam-ul-HaqAbdullah Shafique
2nd1Babar AzamImam-ul-Haq
3rd2Mohammad RizwanImam-ul-Haq
4th22Mohammad RizwanAgha Salman
5th1Mohammad RizwanTayyab Tahir
6th33Faheem AshrafTayyab Tahir
7th7Faheem AshrafMohammad Wasim (1)
8th21Faheem AshrafHaris Rauf
8th21Faheem AshrafAkif Javed
9th60Faheem AshrafNaseem Shah
10th34Naseem ShahSufiyan Muqeem