BLACKCAPS 275-4 (Kane Williamson 97, Ross Taylor 88*) beat Pakistan 207 all out in 43.3 overs (Matt Henry 5-30, Haris Sohail 65, Nathan McCullum 2-59) by 68 runs in Abu Dhabi.
The BLACKCAPS wrapped up the One Day International series against Pakistan 3-2 with a 68 run win in Abu Dhabi. Kane Williamson lead from the front with 97, backed up by Ross Taylor’s 88 not out, while Matt Henry lead a powerful effort from the bowling with 5-30.
Kane Williamson won the toss and his side padded up first – after Martin Guptill went early for eight, Williamson played a patient, well timed innings that lasted until the 43rd over. Williamson managed just eight fours in his innings, symptomatic the huge outfields in Abu Dhabi, so his innings involved much running between wickets in the desert heat.
When Brownlie went in the 20th over lbw to Zulfiqir Babar for 34 from 51, Ross Taylor joined his skipper for a decisive partnership of 116, in a repeat performance of the pair’s massive middle period innings of the home summer.
Williamson went three short of a well deserved century, top-edging Shahid Afridi to Sarfraz Ahmed, but Taylor teamed up with Luke Ronchi (16) and Tom Latham (22*) to score 85 from the BLACKCAPS last ten overs, taking the score to 275-4 in the 50 overs.
The BLACKCAPS bowlers were in the wickets early. Matt Henry got Nasir Jamshed for a duck on the fifth ball of the innings, and followed up with the big wicket of Younis Khan for 12, caught by Luke Ronchi.
Mitchell McClenaghan and Adam Milne were both fired up and the scoring was hard going for Pakistan in the face of such power, and the runs required rate was going ever skyward.
Ahmed Shehzad (54) and Haris Sohail (65) were the only ones to offer real resistance, but after Sohail and Sarfraz Ahmed (26) brought their side back into it slightly from 5-117, Henry, McClenaghan and Milne took the last five wickets for 35 runs to give the BLACKCAPS the win by 68 runs and the series 3-2.
