Pakistan v New Zealand, 2014-15
Wisden's review of the fourth ODI, Pakistan v New Zealand, 2014-15
15-Apr-2015
At Abu Dhabi, December 17, 2014 (day/night). New Zealand won by seven runs. Toss: New Zealand.
This was a match that almost did not happen. Days earlier, a massacre of 132 schoolchildren by terrorists in Peshawar had shocked the world. Earlier in the tour, a day of Test cricket had been suspended after the death of Phillip Hughes, and many felt this game should have been scrapped altogether. The Pakistan Cricket Board were keen to play on, but their players were visibly affected. Pakistan's increasingly bizarre tinkering, in the name of experimentation ahead of the World Cup, did not help, and they played with only four proper bowlers. At no stage did New Zealand's batsmen look flustered. Guptill and Brownlie set the stage, but it was Williamson again who dictated mood and tempo. His 123 took him past Stephen Fleming's 2004 record (1,658) of most runs in all formats by a New Zealander in a calendar year. Pakistan's pursuit began as if still under a cloud - plus no team had ever chased down 300 or more in the UAE. Younis Khan - apparently a misfit in the lineup, under pressure as well as disturbed by events in Peshawar - hit his first one-day international hundred in six years. Alongside another Pashtun, Shahid Afridi, he took Pakistan close. It was not to be once Milne, outstanding throughout, sent Afridi back for a rollicking 49.
Man of the Match: K. S. Williamson.
This was a match that almost did not happen. Days earlier, a massacre of 132 schoolchildren by terrorists in Peshawar had shocked the world. Earlier in the tour, a day of Test cricket had been suspended after the death of Phillip Hughes, and many felt this game should have been scrapped altogether. The Pakistan Cricket Board were keen to play on, but their players were visibly affected. Pakistan's increasingly bizarre tinkering, in the name of experimentation ahead of the World Cup, did not help, and they played with only four proper bowlers. At no stage did New Zealand's batsmen look flustered. Guptill and Brownlie set the stage, but it was Williamson again who dictated mood and tempo. His 123 took him past Stephen Fleming's 2004 record (1,658) of most runs in all formats by a New Zealander in a calendar year. Pakistan's pursuit began as if still under a cloud - plus no team had ever chased down 300 or more in the UAE. Younis Khan - apparently a misfit in the lineup, under pressure as well as disturbed by events in Peshawar - hit his first one-day international hundred in six years. Alongside another Pashtun, Shahid Afridi, he took Pakistan close. It was not to be once Milne, outstanding throughout, sent Afridi back for a rollicking 49.
Man of the Match: K. S. Williamson.