Summary After McCullum's double ton, Williamson fell just short of his'; Williamson scored 192 runs
SHARJAH: (Dunya News) – On a pitch that seemed from Day-1 a batting paradise, New Zealand batsmen literally smashed the over-confident Pakistani bowling side to all parts of the ground. After receiving heavy trashing from the Kiwi skipper Brandon McCullum, who scored 2 s off just 188 balls, Vice Captain Williamson also fell just short of his double century. He was caught by Younis Khan off Rahat Ali’s bowling after scoring 192 runs off 244 balls.
New Zealand batsmen took full advantage of the conditions on Day-3 of the match and scored 637 runs for the loss of 8 wickets at a Run Rate of 4.90. Considering Pakistan’s recent form in bowling, this might prove to be an eye-opener for the selectors as the bowlers were completely exposed under pressure. Pace spearhead Mohammad Talha went for 136 off just 22 overs at an economy rate of 6.18. Rahat Ali though went for many in the first spell, pulled the strings together later on and got 4 wickets. He gave away 89 runs off 25 overs. Zulfiqar Babar gave away 135 runs at an economy rate of 5.86 runs per over. Yasir Shah (4.44), Hafeez (4.55) and Azhar Ali (4) all proved costly to the skipper Misbahul Haq as his side conceded 637 runs off just 130 overs and wasn’t able to get the visitors out.
After the wickets of Taylor (50) and Anderson (50), Pakistan tried to pull it off as Vettori (15) and atling (8) lost their wickets without much hassle yet Southee’s 50 again shattered their dreams and in a 91-run partnership with MD Craig (34*), he took New Zealand’s lead to a swooping 286 runs.
Umpires called the game off early due to bad light but New Zealand are not done yet. IS Sodhi and TA Boult are still to bat and Pakistan is in a situation where its bowlers would hate to continue bowling and batsmen would want to avoid batting in a situation where they trail by around 300 runs or maybe more with 2 days yet to go in the game.
