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New Zealand’s Will Young is run out by Pakistan’s Agha Salman during the third one-day international in Karachi.
3rd ODI, Karachi: Pakistan 287-6 in 50 overs (Imam ul-Haq 90, Babar Azam 54; Matt Henry 3-54, Adam Milne 2-56) beat New Zealand 261 all out in 49.1 overs (Tom Blundell 65, Cole McConchie 64 not out, Tom Latham 45; Naseem Shah 2-41, Mohammad Wasim 2-50, Shaheen Shah Afridi 2-52) by 26 runs.
A series of errors consigned New Zealand to an ODI series defeat against Pakistan on Thursday morning (NZ time).
Chasing Pakistan’s 287-6 in game three of the five-match series, the Black Caps were dismissed for 261 in the last over to fall behind 3-0 in the five-game series.
Debutant allrounder Cole McConchie made a bold unbeaten 64 from just 45 balls at No.7 but didn’t have enough support.
In his first appearance of the series, Tom Blundell top-scored but was one of two unnecessary run-out victims as the tourists made a mess of their run chase.
The opener/wicketkeeper cruised to 65 from 78 balls before taking on the arm of Mohammad Wasim when attempting a second run and falling short.
New Zealand were handily poised just two down at the midway stage, but after Blundell fell, a mostly second-string line-up couldn’t find the hitting power – apart from McConchie – to get near their target.
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New Zealand’s Tom Blundell hits out during his first appearance of the series.
New Zealand skipper Tom Latham won the toss for the first time in the series and opted to field on a hot Karachi afternoon.
Matt Henry was the star with the ball for the visitors, taking 3-54 from his 10 overs (including two maidens), with his dismissal of in-form opener Fakhar Zaman crucial to NZ’s chances.
Fakhar had made 117 and 180 not out in the previous two matches – moving him up to No.2 on the ICC ODI men’s batting rankings – but was kept in check early by Henry and Adam Milne before Henry forced a skier which Blundell took behind the stumps.
The world’s top-rated ODI batter, Babar Azam, put on 108 for the second wicket with Imam ul-Haq in making 54 from 62 balls, but it took them 20.1 overs to do so as the visitors kept the run-rate in check throughout the innings.
Imam top-scored with 90 from 107 deliveries while Shadab Khan’s 21 from 10 balls set the Black Caps a target of 288.
Blundell and Will Young put on 83 for the first wicket in 15.3 overs before Young was run out for 33 from 41 deliveries when guilty of ball-watching.
Daryl Mitchell, who had made back-to-back centuries like Fakhar, was dropped twice but couldn’t prosper – on 21, he could have hit a half-volley outside leg stump from Mohammad Wasim anywhere, but mis-hit it to Abdullah Shafique on the square leg boundary.
New Zealand needed 97 from the last 10 overs and when Latham was bowled for 45 from 60 balls, Pakistan’s victory was virtually assured.
Big moment
Blundell was looking in control and set to guide NZ towards their target in the second half of their pursuit.
But he was slow out of the blocks when turning one towards the square leg boundary and gambled on a second run, only to be cut short by a terrific throw from Wasim.
Best with the bat
While Fakhar couldn’t match his heroics of the first two games, fellow left-handed opener Imam took over the responsibility of setting the platform, hitting seven fours and a six and batting until the 38th over.
Fareed Khan/AP
New Zealand’s Matt Henry celebrates with team-mates after taking the wicket of Pakistan’s Fakhar Zaman.
Best with the ball
Henry continues to shine in a lengthy season for New Zealand home and away, relishing the opportunity to be a spearhead of the attack. He picked up the wickets of the top two-ranked ODI batters in the world.
Big picture
The Black Caps will seek their first win in the series in game four starting in Karachi on Friday night (NZ time), but the knocks from Blundell and McConchie putting them in the World Cup selection frame is a positive.
