Innings New Zealand 330 for 6 (Phillips 106*, Mitchell 81, Williamson 58, Afridi 3-88) vs Pakistan
New Zealand won the toss and opted to bat on what looked a dry flat surface at the newly built stadium, but immediately ran into headwinds. Afridi continued his ODI wicket-taking form with one in his first over, inducing Will Young into a prod that got a nick through to the keeper. With Williamson largely subdued in the opening powerplay, run scoring came largely through a belligerent cameo from Rachin Ravindra, opening for the first time in ODIs. A couple of boundaries off Afridi either side of the wicket set the tone, and he had raced to 25 off 18 deliveries; 20 of them came through boundaries. But a slightly careless shot off Abrar saw him chip it right back to the bowler, and a nascently dangerous innings was stomped out early.
Williamson continued to consolidate, and for a while New Zealand had entered a rut. By the end of the 18th over, New Zealand’s scoring rate had fallen below four, with Mitchell looking laboured as he shuffled along, scoring nine off his first 22 balls. The escalation came all of a sudden, and primarily through Mitchell, when he charged down the ground to loft Khushdil Shah over the sightscreen for six. Williamson began to come into his own, too as New Zealand began to milk the bowling, with the run rate beginning to tick upwards as the partnership approached three figures.
But Pakistan were maintaining a hold over the game by picking up regular wickets, and two wickets in five deliveries pegged New Zealand back sharply. Shaheen, once more, provided the partnership breaker, another gentle edge from Williamson that Rizwan comfortably pouched. The two-paced nature of the wicket went on to do for Latham, who found the ball stopping on him as he chipped it up to midwicket.
In Mitchell and Phillips, though, New Zealand’s two most potent late-overs bludgeoners were at the crease, and they would go on to prove it over the next hour. Mitchell was picking off the Pakistan spinners whenever their lengths dropped short; each of his five sixes came against spin, but it would also be his downfall. A harmless full toss from Abrar was clipped straight into midwicket’s arms, Mitchell’s disbelief writ large on his face as he walked away 19 short of a hundred.
But for Pakistan, that was the reprieve before the storm. Phillips had been sedate until the 42nd over, nudging it around for 29 off 43, but when Salman Agha was pumped back over his head for a six by Phillips, there were signs he was awakening. Agha was dispatched for another pair of sixes in his following over, but it was when the fast bowlers returned that the beast was truly unleashed.
A nudge off Naseem in the 47th over brought him his half-century, but he wasn’t nearly done yet. Afridi was launched over deep midwicket and then scooped above short third for consecutive sixes, before Naseem was plundered for 17 in the 49th over. But the worst of the carnage was left for Afridi in the final over, which produced a whopping 25, bringing up Phillips’ maiden ODI century. New Zealand had smashed 98 in the final 6, with the script of what looked a stodgy innings until the final half hour turned on its head.
Danyal Rasool is ESPNcricinfo’s Pakistan correspondent. @Danny61000
