Ahmed Shehzad mustered his maiden century, and put Pakistan in a comfortable position against New Zealand, in the fifth One Day International (ODI) of the six-match series at the Seddon Park Ground in Hamilton.In the process, Shehzad guided the visiting team to a competitive 268-run total for the loss of 9 wickets in their allotted quota of 50 overs.
The talented youngster, who did not have a single half-century prior to this innings, hammered 115 runs off just 109 balls. Wickets fell around him, but he wasn’t bogged down, as he hammered the opposition bowlers to all corners of the park. In his brilliant knock, he smashed 12 fours and three sixes.
Ross Taylor, the New Zealand captain won the toss and chose to field first in order to take advantage of the overcast conditions. However, the bowlers were not able to find any movement through the air with the new-ball.
The Pakistani openers started sedately, adding 20 runs in their first 6 overs. Hafeez returned to the pavilion, scoring 14 runs, while Shehzad went about collecting his runs at a decent rate.
Kamran Akmal, who has been out of form, looked good for his 17-run innings, until he got run-out while attempting a suicidal run. The wicket-keeper batsmen left Pakistan wobbling at 73 for 2 after 15 overs.
Ahmed, who was coasting nicely, opened up and played a couple of scintillating shots. In the process, he added 47 runs with Younis Khan, and shared a 77-run stand with Misbah-ul-Haq.
In the middle overs, the Kiwi bowlers struck back and dismissed both Misbah and the centurion in quick succession. Nevertheless, a late-order blitz for Shahid Afridi (24) and Umar Akmal (32) helped Pakistan post a challenging target.
It was a determined bowling effort from the New Zealand bowlers. They ended up restricting the opposition to a manageable total. The new-ball bowlers put the ball in the right areas, while the support attack continued the good work.
Kyle Mills and Jacob Oram displayed a brilliant spell of seam bowling, as the duo hardly missed their line and direction with the white kookaburra.
Mills’s excellent bowling earned him figures of 2 for 42, while Oram finished his spell with decent figures of 2 for 49.
In the middle overs, Nathan McCullum, tied down the flow of runs at one end, grabbing economical figures of 1 for 40 in 10 incisive overs.
A 269-run target will test the home side, as they look to avoid a series defeat against Pakistan.
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