Pakistan top-order batters continued to prosper as they beat under-strength New Zealand by 26 runs in the third one-day international for an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.
Opening batter Imam-ul-Haq made 90 off 107 balls and captain Babar Azam scored 54 as the home team raised a total of 287-6 after losing the toss and being asked to bat first. Cole McConchie’s (64 not out) late counter-attack saw the 31-year-old smash New Zealand’s fastest half-century on ODI debut off 36 balls before the Kiwis were bowled out for 261 in the final over to lose their first ODI series against Pakistan since 2011. “We knew these wickets would not be the same as Rawalpindi wickets, so it was important to give respect,” Imam said after being named player of the match. “We knew it was a 280-290 track. We were thinking of 260 but my partnership with Babar helped to get to a good position.”
Pakistan chased down two big totals in the first two ODIs at Rawalpindi, including its second highest-ever successful chase in an ODI of 337 runs in the second game. New Zealand made a solid start in a bid to keep the series alive when Tom Blundell (65), playing his first game of the series, and Will Young (33) put on 83 runs for the opening-wicket stand. But Young’s run-out in the 16th over saw the middle-order stifled by Pakistan spinners Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz before Blundell too got run out while going for a second run with captain Tom Latham.
Daryl Mitchell, who scored centuries in the first two games, had two lucky escapes before he holed out in the deep after scoring 21 and Mark Chapman, who was the star for New Zealand in the preceding 2-2 drawn T20 series against Pakistan, was clean bowled by Naseem Shah for 13. Source: AP
Tag: Babar Azam
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Ashwin rises to 2nd, Jadeja enters top 10 among bowler in ICC Test rankings
Dubai (TIP)- India’s Ravichandran Ashwin rose a place to second, while his compatriot Ravindra Jadeja jumped seven rungs to be among the top-10 bowlers in the latest ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings issued here on Wednesday, February 22. Jadeja has progressed to the ninth position after his 10-wicket match haul in the second Test against Australia in New Delhi, the first time that he had broken in the top-10 since September 2019.
Injured pacer Jasprit Bumrah is the other Indian bowler in top-10, as he occupies the fifth spot.
Veteran England seamer James Anderson leads the list but Australia captain Pat Cummins has dropped two places to third. Axar Patel’s late-order heroics have pushed him into the top five in all-rounders’ list, which is being headed by Jadeja and Ashwin. Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne continues to top the Test batters list, followed by Steve Smith and Pakistan skipper Babar Azam.
India’s Rishabh Pant, who is out of action for an indefinite period following a horrific car crash, is static at sixth, while skipper Rohit Sharma continues to be seventh.
England batters Ollie Pope (up six places to 23rd), Harry Brook (up 12 places to 31st) and Ben Duckett (up 13 places to 38th) have achieved career-best rankings, as have New Zealand’s Tom Blundell and Devon Conway. Blundell’s first innings knock of 138 has lifted him four places to 11th while Conway’s 77 has helped him move up five places to 17th. Source: PTI
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Debutant Nauman Ali puts South Africa in a spin as Pakistan win first Test
Karachi (TIP): Spinners Nauman Ali and Yasir Shah rattled South Africa to help Pakistan win the first test by seven wickets inside four days on Friday, January 29.
Nauman, a 34-year-old left-arm spinner making his test debut, returned 5-35 and Shah took 4-79 to dismiss South Africa for 245 in the second innings before lunch on day four.
It set up a small target of 88 and despite Anrich Nortje’s (2-24) twin strike in one over, Pakistan reached 90-3 before tea in 22.5 overs. Azhar Ali remained unbeaten on 31 while Fawad Alam raised the victory with a boundary off left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj. It was only Pakistan’s fifth victory in 27 test matches against South Africa, which had won at the same venue when it last toured in 2007.
Nauman and Shah shared 14 wickets in the match as South African batsmen struggled against spinners in both innings. The win also earned Babar Azam success in his first test as Pakistan skipper. Babar was due to lead the side in the last series in New Zealand but missed it due to a fractured thumb.
Nortje clean bowled Abid Ali (10) and then had Imran Butt (12), playing his first test, caught behind before Maharaj had Babar (30) trapped leg before wicket when only two needed for victory. Pakistan had been in control since taking a 158-run first-innings lead, when its lower order rallied from 27-4 to reach 378, helped by Alam’s gritty century.