IT wasn’t quite the comprehensive mismatch Friday’s game was, but that didn’t mean the outcome was ever in any doubt. A sumptuous Babar Azam century, his ninth in T20s – he’s now behind only Chris Gayle – powered Pakistan to 192. Babar was supported by a half-century from Mohammad Rizwan and a useful unbeaten 19-ball 33 from Iftikhar Ahmed as Pakistan posted another total well above par.
( Scores: Pakistan 192 for 4 (Babar 101*, Rizwan 50, Henry 2-29) beat New Zealand 154 for 7 (Chapman 65*, Bowes 26, Rauf 4-27) by 38 runs
Babar and Rizwan more than made up for their failures yesterday with an outstanding opening partnership. After taking three overs to get set, they caught up with the rate superbly across the first half of the innings, powering at about ten an over across their 99-run stand.
And while a cluster of wickets immediately after threatened to derail Pakistan’s progress, an unbroken 87-run stand between Babar and Iftikhar in 43 balls ensured Pakistan were firmly on top once more.
In response New Zealand offered a more representative account of their abilities than they had in the first game, with a classy half-century from Mark Chapman headlining the chase. Showcasing both his technical ability and long-range hitting, he clubbed an unbeaten 40-ball 65 in what was largely lone resistance, keeping his side’s flame flickering until the final three overs.
But the damage Haris Rauf was doing at the other end proved too much to counter. He followed up his career-best performance last night with another scintillating display, ripping through the New Zealand middle order and killing off any hopes of a nascent chase with figures of 4 for 27. Shaheen Afridi and Zaman Khan snuffed out the chase at the death, and even as Chapman finished off the game with a magnificent six over cover, Pakistan coasted to a 38-run victory.
The stutter
As was the case Friday, there was a wobble midway through the Pakistan innings, and just like yesterday, it was Matt Henry-inspired. After Pakistan’s crisp start, Henry sent down a priceless 11th over that saw one run scored and two wickets fall. Rizwan was the first to go, miscuing a slog soon after he brought up his half-century.
Then, for the second successive game, Henry found himself on a hat-trick, forcing Fakhar Zaman to chop one back onto his stumps. Saim Ayub kept his first ball out to deny the fast bowler consecutive hat-tricks, but New Zealand were suddenly on top.
Final-overs frenzy
Having slowed down somewhat after the powerplay, as Babar is wont to do, not even his most ardent backers entertained notions of a ninth T20 hundred for the Pakistan captain. With three overs to go, Babar was still 35 runs away, but two sixes and a four of Henry’s final over saw him climb into the 80s. A canny penultimate over from Ben Lister though, with Babar deprived of the strike, looked to have dashed those hopes once more. He was still 15 away with the innings’ final four balls to go, and Gaddafi began to dream once more.
By the time Neesham was powered back over mid-off for six and Babar crept into the 90s, the crowd had been whipped up into a fervour. Seven runs away with two balls to go, he thumped another over mid-off for four to take it down to the wire. And, almost as if it were scripted, he would save his best shot for last, a glorious drive over cover that sailed to the boundary and brought up the most unlikely of his nine hundreds. He rocked back and let out a roar, and Lahore roared with him.(Cricinfo)
