Shehzad hit eight boundaries and a six during his knock of 93
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
The Pakistan trio of Ahmed Shehzad, Haris Sohail and captain Misbah-ul-Haq all made half-centuries to help their side take down the United Arab Emirates by 129 runs in Napier.
However, United Arab Emirates batsman Shaiman Anwar deserves some credit for his gutsy knock of 62.
United Arab Emirates captain Mohammad Tauqir would have been delighted with his decision to bowl first early on after Pakistan opener Nasir Jamshed was caught by Khurram Khan at midwicket off the bowling of Manjula Guruge for four runs.
Shehzad and Sohail made up for the early loss of Jamshed with a 160-run partnership, during which both batsmen brought up their half-centuries, before Sohail was caught by Anwar at mid-on off the bowling of Mohammad Naveed.
Sohail’s fantastic knock of 70 came off 83 balls and included five boundaries and a six.
Sohail played some superb shots during his innings of 70
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Shehzad went on to score 93 off 105 deliveries, which included eight boundaries and a six, before he was run out by Anwar.
Shoaib Maqsood and ul-Haq stabilised the innings with a 75-run partnership before Maqsood was caught by Rohan Mustafa at backward point off the bowling of Guruge for 45.
Ul-Haq and Umar Akmal kept the runs flowing with a 61-run partnership, during which ul-Haq registered his half-century, before Akmal was caught by Amjad Ali deep square leg off the bowling of Guruge for 19.
Ul-Haq ended up making 65 off 49 balls, which included four boundaries and two sixes, before he was caught by Mustafa at long-on off the bowling of Guruge.
Ul-Haq’s sublime form with the bat continued
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Thanks to Shehzad, Sohail and ul-Haq, Pakistan finished on 339/6 off their 50 overs.
Guruge was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets, while Naveed chipped in with one.
Guruge finished with a career-best 4-56 off eight overs
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Chasing 340 to win, the United Arab Emirates got off to a poor start as Ali, Andri Berenger and Krishna Chandran were dismissed in quick succession.
Khan and Anwar steadied the innings with an 83-run partnership before Khan was caught by Wahab Riaz at backward square leg off the bowling of Maqsood for 43.
Anwar proceeded to score 62 off 88 deliveries, which included four boundaries and two sixes, before he was caught by Jamshed at long-off off the bowling of Shahid Afridi.
Anwar made a valiant 62
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Afridi struck again just two balls later when Mustafa was caught by Shehzad at backward point for a duck.
Amjad Javed and Swapnil Patil stemmed the bleeding with a 68-run partnership before Javed was caught by Sohail Khan at deep midwicket off the bowling of Riaz for 40.
Riaz took his second wicket just three balls later when he clean bowled Patil for 36.
Despite the efforts of Anwar, Khan, Javed and Patil, the United Arab Emirates ended up losing the match by 129 runs.
Afridi, Riaz and Sohail Khan snapped up two wickets apiece, while Maqsood and Rahat Ali claimed one wicket each.
Shehzad was named Man of the Match, and said: “Pretty much satisfied before the big game (against South Africa). We didn’t want to be in a similar situation like we were against Zimbabwe. All the coaches and players have been very supportive to try and fix that. The way Misbah and Haris batted to help us get momentum will be useful against South Africa. We need to stand up as a team and play as well as we did today.”