chops it past short third. Short of a length just outside off, hangs leg side of it and guides it to that fielder's right
New Zealand vs Pakistan, 2nd ODI at Abu Dhabi, PAK v NZ, Nov 09 2018 - Ball by Ball Commentary
Pakistan won by 6 wickets (with 57 balls remaining)
We hope you enjoyed our coverage! Catch you soon for the decider. Have a good night.
Before we leave: PCB confirms that Imam-ul-Haq's scans are all clear, and he will remain under observation from the team physio. Thank goodness for that.
Sarfraz: It was a complete team performance. We hoped to comeback strongly and we did. We wanted to use the new ball effectively. I have just heard that Imam has been discharged from the hospital. I think we batted very well today, Fakhar played all around the surface. We tackled the bouncer very well too. Our bowlers contained it really well after beinf wayward with the new ball. Our spinners controlled it nicely and the wickets from the pacers in the middle helped. Look forward to the decider in Dubai.
Williamson: A bit of scrapping that got us a total, but it wasn't enough on that surface. We were outplayed. In hindsight we will look back some things that we need to improve. In Dubai, we'll look to build on the lessons. With the ball, the guys did try hard, but not enough runs. [Lockie] has the pace which is handy. Under lights it skidded on a little more. At the end of the day, it [short ball strategy] isn't something we do all the time.
Afridi: Thanks to god. It's big that we won. The comeback was pretty nice. I tried to keep the line and length going and tried to use variations.
Shaheen Afridi is the Man of the Match.
Fahad Saeed: "Who will be the MOM Varun.Fakhar or young gun shaheen shah afridi.I guess Afridi.."
Hamza: "At last Pakistan won that game. Thanks fakhar zaman 88 & shaheen shah 4 for"
Kashif Mehmood: ""Finally the curse is over". Here they go Team Pakistan!"
Umaid Engineer: "Very composed innings from Pakistan (without a six). Rather than just throwing away wickets, for which they have fame, tried to save wicket and steadily walked towards victory. Finally, players wanted win this time. Otherwise it's only fans who were desperate for win all the while."
10:28pm Pakistan's first ODI win against New Zealand since December 2014. And it's a comprehensive one. A sensational bowling performance after New Zealand had elected to bat. They got early wickets, and then the spinners put up some magic for this era of cricket - they conceded only one boundary in 25 overs between them. Ross Taylor toiled hard, but he couldn't do too much after Shaheen Afridi had ripped through the line-up. Fakhar Zaman finally got in the runs, Babar was fluid as ever and the experienced Prof. saw them through with nearly 10 overs to spare. Hardly a blemish in today's performance and if it weren't for Imam's head injury, this would have been a perfect day. Imam is in the hospital for scans and he was conscious on the way. So it's overall good news tonight. The last ODI will be a decider.
11 dots in a row. Is he looking for poetry here? Pakistan have lost 12 in a row against NZ before this...
Umar: "I take my words back Varun, sorry I spoke too soon. That run rate IS hard to achieve on this pitch"
length at middle stump, defended off the back foot
Amin: "Oh come on. Get it over with already!"
length at leg stump, flicked straight to square leg from the crease
It's a maiden. Looks like they won't win with 10 overs to spare after all.
good length on off stump, blocked on the front foot
googly, short of a length at off stump. Backs away and slices to point
length just outside off, defended to point off the outside half
short of a length just outside off, punched to cover
short of a length just outside off, cut to point
floated up full outside off, driven towards long-off. Extra cover cuts it off
short of a length and skidding on at middle stump. Swivels for the pull but it hits the sticker of the bat and rolls to short midwicket
length at off stump, defended off the back foot
length and in the corridor. Defended to point
length at off stump, hurriedly jabbed to point's left off the back foot
length on off stump, defended off the back foot
short of a length on leg stump, defended into the leg side
length outside off, reaches out with hard hands and doesn't get to the pitch. Sliced uppishly between cover and point
googly rips in as he shapes to cut. Under-edge into the pitch as he looks to cut
short outside off, pulled to long-on against the turn
googly, short and down leg side. Whipped to deep square off the back foot
short and very wide outside off. Skids away and gets big too. Sarfraz doesn't get the feet back and across and is sort of reaching for this with the cut. Thick edge is held on