Williamson's toss-time blues
Plays of the day from the third ODI between Pakistan and New Zealand in Sharjah

Corey Anderson was saved from bowling a no-ball by an alert Luke Ronchi • AFP
Umar Akmal was playing his 100th ODI, he was also stepping up for the injured Misbah-ul-Haq, and he was walking in with a situation that was tailor-made for him. Pakistan were 300 for 5 with almost five overs left in the bank. He slid his first ball to point with soft hands and set off, eager to give the ballistic Afridi the strike. Only his captain did not like the look of the fielder swooping down on the ball. A shocked Akmal stopped in his tracks and almost accepted his fate as Martin Guptill loaded up for a throw. A direct hit would have had him, but Guptil did not want to take any risks. He began running to the stumps, which forced a desperate Akmal to scamper as well. An underamed throw hit the mark and the batsman had to walk back for a first-ball duck.
New Zealand's bowlers were being run ragged. Their over-rate was stuck in the 12 per hour mark. But through it all, Luke Ronchi was alert enough to stop an unnecessary no-ball. Akmal had just been run-out and Williamson had forgotten to pull a fifth man inside the circle for the new batsman Sarfraz Ahmed. Corey Anderson was almost set to deliver when the wicketkeeper abandoned his crouch and stretched out his hands to ask the bowler to stop. The same gaffe happened in the 48th over, but this time no one could prevent it.
Younis Khan is auditioning for a spot for the World Cup at 37. He needed to show briskness with the bat, but his pushes and nudges weren't hitting the gap and he was caught at long-on when he yielded to a slog. But his stocks rose on the field. Guptill thought he had it easy with a push to mid-off in the fifth over, but Younis sprinted to his right, slid for the ball and threw it while he was off balance. But rather like a snorter that beats a batsman, this too was too good to hit the target. He was not left to rue the effort too long though as he found a miscued swipe from Nathan McCullum heading in his direction during the 34th over. He ran hard, thrust both hands up after a leap to his right at cover and held on to quite an acrobatic catch.
Alagappan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo