PAKISTAN 252 all out in 48.3 overs (Mohammed Hafeez 76, Misbah ul-Haq 47, Matt Henry 4-45, Mitchell McClenaghan 3-56) lost to BLACKCAPS 255-6 from 46 overs (Kane Williamson 70*, Anton Devcich 58, Dean Brownlie 47) by four wickets at Sharjah.
The BLACKCAPS have levelled the ODI series 1-1 after a four wicket win at Sharjah. A strong performance with the ball, lead by Matt Henry's four wickets and Mitchell McClenaghan's three restricted Pakistan to 252 all out, losing their last man in the 49th over.
In reply, the BLACKCAPS were cruising after a 103 run opening stand between Dean Brownlie (47) and Anton Devcich (58), before mid innings wobbles. Kane Williamson and Luke Ronchi then put a 50 run partnership together to make things safe, the BLACKAPS taking the spoils by four wickets to beat Pakistan in Sharjah for the first time.
After losing the toss and being asked to field, Matt Henry and Mitchell McClenaghan opened the bowling with fire and pace. Henry had Ahmed Shehzad caught by Luke Ronchi from the last ball for the first over, while McClenagan had Younis Khan given out lbw in the second, only to find it was a no-ball. He came back strongly to get the same man caught at slip by Ross Taylor from the last ball of the second over.
Henry followed up with Asad Shafiq's wicket in the fifth over, bowling him for one run and Pakistan were 3-20. Harris Sohail and Mohammed Hafeez began rebuilding with a 77 run partnership before Henry accounted for him also, Tom Latham dragging in the catch at deep mid wicket. Henry took his fourth wicket two overs later, the big one of Misbah ul-Haq for 41, caught behind by Luke Ronchi swinging hard at a short ball.
Pakistan wrung valuable runs from their tail, but with two wickets to Adam Milne, one from Anderson (who went for an economical 1-35 from his seven overs) and two more from McClenaghan, the BLACKCAPS had Pakistan all out in the 49th over for 252.
In reply, Devcich and Brownlie got the BLACKCAPS off to a fast start, bringing up the 10 for the BLACKCAPS in the 18th over before Brownlie, who had been extremely steady for his 47 runs, was cramped up and bowled by Shahid Afridi.
Shortly afterwards, Kane Williamson made the one mistake of his innings, calling Devcich through for a questionable single that saw him run out for 58. That sparked a mini-collapse, with Ross Taylor (2), Tom Latham (3) and Corey Anderson (10), who managed one huge six, losing their wickets for 29 runs.
Luke Ronchi and Kane Williamson then put on a partnership of 58 to get things back on track, with the former happy to do it in boundaries, hitting a series of fine pull shots to the rope from spin and seam alike. Williamson was going about building a man of the match innings of 70*, and when Ronchi lost his wicket for 36 to a stunning Sohail Tanvir diving catch in the deep, the finish line was in sight.
Dan Vettori had the winning runs come from his pads with four leg byes, and after DRS showed it was not an lbw, the BLACKCAPS had the win by four wickets and level the series one all.
