Razzaq heroics not enough
Saturday, January 17 2004
One of the best innings in ODI history by Abdul Razzaq was not enough for Pakistan with New Zealand taking out the 5th one-dayer by 4 runs and in the process securing a 4-1 series victory.
New Zealand chose to rest Daryl Tuffey bringing Andre Adams in as his replacement with Pakistan going in with the same starting eleven as Napier.
A lovely summer's day in Wellington met the two teams with Stephen Fleming starting the day off successfully in winning the toss and choosing to bat first.
Craig Cumming who seems to be improving from match to match started off successfully with Stephen Fleming in getting New Zealand off to a solid start. The first wicket fell at 47 with Stephen Fleming being dismissed by Mohammad Sami for 16.
A couple of overs later Craig Cumming was bowled for 31 by Sami and when Styris departed 16 runs later with the score at 73/3 New Zealand could have lost their way.
They didn't however with Hamish Marshall and Craig McMillan combining in a record 4th wicket partnership of 157 against Pakistan. The solid partnership ended when Craig McMillan was out trying to force the pace in the 41st over for 81 off 81 balls.
Some big hitting from Chris Cairns and Jacob Oram continued the momentum in taking New Zealand through to 307/8 off their 50 overs. This was the highest ODI score ever made at Westpac Stadium.
Yasir Hameed started the run chase with great composure but lost his opening partner Imran Farhat for 8 when the score was 34.
Azhar Mahmood was sent in as a pinch hitter but didn't last long in being bowled by Kyle Mills for 2.
When Yousuf Youhana was out for 0 and Yasir Hameed's innings of 48 came to an end Pakistan looked all but gone at 73-4 from 16 overs.
Moin Khan then joined Inzamam-ul-Haq in a steady partnership as they attempted to bring Pakistan back into the game.
With the score at 171 Moin Khan was dismissed trying to run a ball down to third man but a gap between bat and pad saw Scott Styris remove his off bail and Moin was on his way for a well made 52.
With the run rate climbing at an alarming rate Abdul Razzaq got quickly into his work and launched a frenetic batting display hitting 89 off only 40 balls with 9 fours and five sixes. He was especially severe on Andre Adams taking 24 off one over. The New Zealand bowlers had no answer as Pakistan closed in on victory.
A miscommunication between Inzamam and Razzaq with the score at 265 saw them end up at the same end with Inzamam sacrificing himself to keep the danger man Razzaq at the crease.
Surprisingly Shoaib Malik was sent in ahead of the in form Shoaib Akhtar. On his 2nd ball Vettori managed to spin one away from Malik and McCullum did the rest in having him well stumped for a duck.
Shoaib Akhtar and the power hitting of Abdul Razzaq were taking Pakistan closer and closer towards victory but some lazy running by Shoaib saw him run out for 9 with the score at 294 (12 runs away from victory).
With Razzaq still at the crease Pakistan knew the match was there for the taking but the start of the 49th over saw his innings come to an end when we cracked a delivery from Adams straight down the ground to Hamish Marshall where he took a juggling catch and at that moment New Zealand knew they had their victory.
Mohammad Sami and Shabbir Ahmed tried their best in the closing deliveries but fell four runs short when Shabbir ran himself out for two.
The victory saw New Zealand take out the National Bank trophy four games to one.
Pakistan now travel for a test and one-day series against India while New Zealand await South Africa in a 5 ODI, 3 test series.
Score Summary
New Zealand 307/8 (H Marshall 84, C McMillan 81, C Cairns 36, C Cumming 31, A Mahmood 2/38, S Akhtar 2/46, M Sami 2/73)
Pakistan 303 (A Razzaq 89, Inzamam-ul-Haq 67, M Khan 52, Y Hameed 48, J Oram 2/28, K Mills 2/65, S Styris 1/53, D Vettori 1/62, A Adams 1/69)
New Zealand won by 4 runs
Man of the Match: Abdul Razzaq
Posted by James
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