Allen and Milne star as New Zealand go 2-0 up
Babar and Fakhar scored fifties before Pakistan lost their way in a chase of 195
Babar and Fakhar scored fifties before Pakistan lost their way in a chase of 195
Scorer: K Vairavan | Commentator: Rvel Zahid
That just about wraps it up for today. We hope you enjoyed our ball-by-ball coverage. The third match will be held in Christchurch on 19th January, make sure to join us again. It's time for me, Rvel Zahid, to sign off, watch out for Abhimanyu Bose report. Goodnight!Â
Shaheen Afridi, Pakistan Captain: Bowling first you go for swing, early on but we missed that period, and if we got a few wickets, we could have kept the score to 170-180, but the start wasn't the way we wanted. I think they bowled well after 10 overs but we struggled in the first 10, Haris and Abbas bowled well
Tim Southee, New Zealand stand-in captain: The boys set it up nicely with the bat but Pakistan pulled it back well. It was pretty similar in both innings. The wickets kept flowing through both innings. The work the guys did at the top made it look okay but it's something we need to work on. Sodhi shouldn't be overlooked with this two wickets. He's also taken a couple of good catches in the first few games."
Finn Allen, Player of the Match: I have to be adaptable and have different gears to my game - to my game it's pleasing to see it come through today. I thought 200 would be a good score and we were going good when Daryl came out to bat. He's a calming figure, we always try to bounce off each other and help each other (about Kane Williamson)
Adam Milne was clearly the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4/33, and Ben Sears backed it up beautifully. Tim Southee controlled things at the death, and the spinners did their job too. Ish Sodhi made a strong comeback after being targeted by Fakhar Zaman. All in all, it was a good bowling performance as a unit. Babar Azam showed great fight, but once again lacked the finishing touch and was dismissed on 66. The wicket of Fakhar Zaman stymied the momentum, and the innings began to spiral down after that as Babar Azam didn't get much support from the other end. New Zealand dropped a few chances but managed to come back in the game at crucial junctures. Earlier, Finn Allen set the platform for a par score and took on the Pakistan attack and was simply unstoppable. On the other hand, Pakistan found it tough to pick wickets in the middle overs which has been a longstanding issue.
Abbas Afridi c Sodhi b Southee 7 (13m 5b 0x4 1x6) SR: 140.00
Fahad Abbasi: "No offense but at times it feels like Pakistan players are following steps of Windies Team, where everyone wants to do the heroics and none interested in playing sensible cricket as team support. "
Tamal: "Did DJ just play 'you can't see me' in response to Sodhi's jesture to the catch! LOL"
Rahoul RP: "Ohh Abbas .. you proved me wrong.. my prediction was NZ will win by 25 runs"
Babar and Fakhar scored fifties before Pakistan lost their way in a chase of 195
He felt it while running a single in the tenth over of the match, and Southee will captain New Zealand for the rest of the match