World Twenty20, 2009
At The Oval, June 13 (floodlit). Pakistan won by six wickets. Pakistan 2 pts. Toss: New Zealand. Twenty20 international debut: Shahzaib Hasan.
Allegations of ball-tampering that were made by New Zealand, and rejected by the umpires, seemed an attempt to cover up the lack of class in their batting in the absence of Ross Taylor and Jesse Ryder. Before reverse swing was conceivable,NewZealand faltered to 37 for three, thanks to a fine start by Abdul Razzaq - the first ICL player to return to the official international game - and their final collapse was sparked by Shahid Afridi running back from mid-on to catch Styris within feet of the long-on rope. Umar Gul then switched to the Pavilion End and, simply by bowling quick, full and straight, mopped up a feeble tail for the first five-for in Twenty20 internationals. Pakistan did not bat well, but they knocked off the runs quickly to improve their net run-rate.
Man of the Match: Umar Gul. Attendance: 20,226.
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