Misbah stars as Pakistan trounce NZ

Pakistan A 5 for 164 (Misbah-ul-Haq 107*) beat New Zealand A 104 (Fawad Alam 2-14) by 60 runs
Scorecard

Powered by captain Misbah-ul-Haq's unbeaten 107, Pakistan A trounced New Zealand A by 60 runs in the inaugural Twenty20 match of the Top End Series in Darwin. Set a challenging total of 165, the New Zealand middle order came apart as the spinners combined to dismiss them for 104 in the 17th over.

New Zealand A captain Craig McMillan's decision to send the opposition in seemed a good one after the Pakistan openers were dismissed by Richard Sherlock with just nine runs on the board. Misbah took charge of the innings thereafter, dominating the fourth-wicket stand of 57 with Bazid Khan. Hasan Raza and Fawad Alam chipped in with quick runs in the latter stages of the innings, allowing Misbah to continue his counterattack. He remained unbeaten on 107, an innings which included five sixes. It is incidentally his highest score in nine Twenty20 matches.

The New Zealand top order failed to convert their starts, falling to the Pakistan seamers, Wasim Khan and Mohammad Irshad. Gareth Hopkins's run-out with the score on 62 triggered the collapse, as his side lost three quick wickets for only five runs. The spinners, led by Alam, shared four wickets between them as New Zealand lost their ninth wicket in only the 14th over. Mark Orchard top-scored with 24 and was the last to be dismissed.