Spinner Nathan McCullum took four wickets to bowl New Zealand to a 39-run win over Pakistan in the second Twenty20 cricket international and to an insurmountable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
After New Zealand had made a competitive 185-7 having being sent in to bat in damp conditions, McCullum raced through the Pakistan middle order to finish with 4-16 from four overs.
Pakistan was left 146-9 after its 20 overs, conceding the series ahead of the final match in Christchurch on Thursday.
Earlier, Martin Guptill made 44 and James Franklin 40 to lead New Zealand’s recovery after it lost opener Jesse Ryder to the first ball of the match.
McCullum dismissed Younis Khan for 3, Asad Shafiq for 6, Abdul Razzaq for 14 and Umar Gul for 0, then took two catches to provoke the collapse of the Pakistan innings after the tourists had been 68-1 in the eighth over.
Swing bowler Tim Southee took two wickets with two balls at the end to finish with 2-26 and spinner Luke Woodcock bowled his four overs for 20 runs in a tidy debut to ensure Pakistan didn’t threaten the New Zealand total.
Pakistan won a valuable toss and sent New Zealand in to bat on a ground on which a women’s Twenty20 international between Australia and New Zealand had been abandoned earlier in the day because of rain.
The loss of Ryder to the first ball of the match seemed a major blow but Guptill and Franklin formed a productive partnership, putting on 91 runs for the second wicket, to set the foundation for the New Zealand innings.
Scott Styris made 34, captain Ross Taylor 30 not out and wicketkeeper Peter McGlashan hit 26, including 24 from one over from Umar Gul, to present Pakistan with a difficult run chase.
“It was a good performance,” Taylor said.
“The partnership between Guptill and Franklin after Jesse went early set a good platform for the other players to come out and express themselves.”
Spinner Saeed Ajmal took 3-35 as the best of the Pakistan bowlers.
Pakistan started its run chase strongly but when Younis Khan ran out Mohammad Hafeez for 26, the innings began to unravel.
McCullum dashed through the middle order and the tourists slumped to 114-7 after 15.4 overs, with no hope of victory.
“I’m disappointed from the bowling side,” captain Shahid Afridi said. “We didn’t bowl well, especially our experienced bowlers and put the ball in the right areas.
“They played positively and we didn’t bowl to our strength which is the yorker.”
Scoreboard today in the second Twenty20 cricket international between New Zealand and Pakistan at Seddon Park.
New Zealand innings:
Jesse Ryder c Umar Akmal b Razzaq 0
Martin Guptill c Afridi b Ajmal 44
James Franklin c Umar Akmal b Afridi 40
Ross Taylor not out 30
Scott Styris c Shehzad b Shoaib 34
Peter McGlashan lbw Wahab 26
Nathan McCullum c Shafiq b Ajmal 1
Kyle Mills std Umar Akmal b Ajmal 0
Extras: (B—1,LB—4,W—4,NB—1) 10
Total: (for 7 wkts in 20 overs) 185
Fall of wickets: 1—0, 2—91, 3—94, 4—133, 5—175, 6—184, 7—185
Bowling: Abdul Razzaq 2—0—12—1, Shoaib Akhtar 4—0—42—1, Umar Gul 3—0—47—0, Wahab Riaz 3—0—22—1, Shahid Afridi 4—0—22—1,Saeed Ajmal 4—0—35—3.
Pakistan Innings:
Mohammad Hafeez run out 46
Shahid Afridi b Mills 7
Ahmed Shehzad c Styris b Butler 15
Umar Akmal c McCullum b Southee 26
Younis Khan c McGlashan b McCullum 3
Asad Shafiq b McCullum 6
Abdul Razzaq c McGlashan b McCullum 14
Umar Gul c Guptill b McCullum 0
Wahab Riaz c McCullum b Southee 18
Shoaib Akhtar not out 5
Sajeed Ajmal not out 0
Extras: (LB—5,W—1) 6
Total: (for 9 wickets in 20 overs) 146
Fall of wickets: 1—24, 2—68, 3—69, 4—76, 5—96, 6—114, 7—114, 8—141, 9—141
Bowling: James Franklin 1—0—10—0, Kyle Mills 3—0—34—1, Tim Southee 4—0—26—2, Ian Butler 4—0—35—1, Luke Woodcock 4—0—20—0, Nathan McCullum 4—0—16—4.
