Cool Williamson guides New Zealand to win over Pakistan

(Reuters) – Kane Williamson’s assured unbeaten 70 guided New Zealand to a comfortable four-wicket win over Pakistan in the second one-day international in Sharjah yesterday to level the series at 1-1.

Chasing 253 for victory, New Zealand started well through a century opening partnership between Dean Brownlie (47) and Anton Devcich who made 58, his first limited-overs international half century.

But Brownlie fell to Shahid Afridi and Devcich was run out before Ross Taylor, Tom Latham and Corey Anderson fell in quick succession to leave New Zealand struggling on 167 for five.

Williamson and Luke Ronchi (36) shared a sixth-wicket partnership of 58 to put the tourists back on course and the experienced Daniel Vettori (13 not out) helped steer his side to their target with four overs to spare.

Opener Mohammad Hafeez top-scored for Pakistan with 76, including a six and nine fours, as the hosts recovered from a poor start in which they slumped to 20 for three.

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq then chipped in with 47 runs and Haris Sohail made 33 to lift their side to a respectable total of 252.

New Zealand seamer Matt Henry returned figures of four for 45 in his third one-day international.

The third game in the five-match series is in Sharjah tomorrow.

Scoreboard
 Pakistan Innings
M. Hafeez c Latham b Henry                    76
A. Shehzad c Ronchi b Henry                     0
Y. Khan c Taylor b McClenaghan              6
A. Shafiq b Henry                                              1
H. Sohail c Taylor b Anderson                  33
Misbah-ul-Haq c Ronchi b Henry            47
S. Ahmed c Latham b McClenaghan       23
S. Afridi c Vettori b Milne                          27
W. Riaz c Taylor b Milne                             14
S. Tanvir lbw b McClenaghan                   14
M. Irfan not out                                               0
Extras (lb-1 nb-1 w-9)                                   11
Total (all out, 48.3 overs)                        252
Fall of wickets: 1-1 A. Shehzad,2-11 Y. Khan,3-20 A. Shafiq,4-97 H. Sohail,5-163 M. Hafeez,6-172 Misbah-ul-Haq,7-209 S. Afridi,8-231 W. Riaz,9-248 S. Ahmed,10-252 S. Tanvir
Bowling M. Henry 10 – 0 – 45 – 4(w-3) M. McClenaghan 9.3 – 0 – 56 – 3(nb-1 w-5) A. Milne 10 – 0 – 53 – 2(w-1) D. Vettori 10 – 0 – 48 – 0 A. Devcich 2 – 0 – 14 – 0 C. Anderson 7 – 0 – 35 – 1 New

Zealand Innings
D. Brownlie b Afridi                                             47
A. Devcich run out (Hafeez, Sohail)             58
K. Williamson not out                                        70
R. Taylor c S. Ahmed b Sohail                          2
T. Latham c Tanvir b Sohail                              3
C. Anderson b Sohail                                         10
L. Ronchi c Tanvir b Afridi                             36
D. Vettori not out                                                13
Extras (lb-6 nb-2 w-8)                                      16
Total (for 6 wickets, 46 overs)                    255
Fall of wickets: 1-103 D. Brownlie,2-129 A. Devcich,3-138 R. Taylor,4-148 T. Latham,5-167 C. Anderson,6-225 L. Ronchi
Did not bat: A. Milne, M. Henry, M. McClenaghan
Bowling S. Tanvir 6 – 0 – 30 – 0(w-2) M. Irfan 10 – 0 – 50 – 0(nb-2 w-2) W. Riaz 9 – 0 – 58 – 0(w-2) S. Afridi 10 – 0 – 47 – 2(w-1) H. Sohail 9 – 0 – 48 – 3(w-1) A. Shehzad 1 – 0 – 7 – 0 A. Shafiq 1 – 0 – 9 – 0 Referees
Umpire: Ahsan Raza
Umpire: Richard Illingworth
TV umpire: Joel Wilson
Match referee: Roshan Mahanama
Result: New Zealand won by 4 wickets