Martin Guptill celebrates after scoring his 13th ODI century
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
New Zealand opener Martin Guptill scored a brilliant century as his side completed their 5-0 whitewash of Pakistan after beating them by 15 runs in the fifth ODI in Wellington.
Choosing to bat first, New Zealand got off to a scorching start as Guptill and Colin Munro amassed a 52-run partnership in under six overs before Munro was caught by Mohammad Nawaz at mid-off off the bowling of Rumman Raees for 34.
Guptill and captain Kane Williamson added 49 runs to the score before Williamson was caught by Umar Amin at deep square leg off the bowling of Aamer Yamin for 22.
Guptill and Ross Taylor kept the runs flowing with a 112-run stand, during which Guptill brought up his century and Taylor was on the verge of registering his fifty.
However, Guptill was unable to push on after reaching the triple figure mark as he was dismissed by Raees for 100, which came off 126 balls and included 10 boundaries and a six.
Taylor went on to score 59 off 73 balls, which included three boundaries, before he was clean bowled by Faheem Ashraf.
Ross Taylor scored his 41st ODI fifty
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
New Zealand began to lose wickets in a hurry after Taylor’s dismissal, but thanks to a quickfire 21 from Colin de Grandhomme and 14 from Tim Southee, the Black Caps finished on 271/7 off their 50 overs.
Raees was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets, while Ashraf snapped up two and Yamin chipped in with one.
Chasing 272 to win, Pakistan got off to an awful start as New Zealand pace bowler Matt Henry took out Amin, Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam in quick succession.
With Lockie Ferguson removing Mohammad Hafeez and De Grandhomme sending captain Sarfraz Ahmed back to the pavilion, Pakistan found themselves in all sorts of trouble at 57/5.
However, Haris Sohail and Shadab Khan came to the rescue with a 105-run partnership, during which both batsmen surpassed their half-centuries.
But, just as Pakistan had clawed their way back into contention, New Zealand got the breakthrough they sorely needed when Sohail was caught by Henry at long-on off the bowling of Mitchell Santner for 63, which came off 87 balls and included five boundaries.
Santner struck again in his next over, this time removing Shadab for 54, which came off 77 deliveries and included five boundaries.
Ashraf and Nawaz made 23 runs apiece, while Yamin smashed an unbeaten 32, but their efforts went in vain as Pakistan fell short of their target.
Henry was the most successful bowler with four wickets, while Santner took three, Ferguson got two and De Grandhomme claimed one.
Sarfraz was less than impressed with his side’s performance, and said: “Very tough series, the main thing was batting, it didn’t click right through the series. We had opportunities. We back our team.”
Williamson was thrilled to have whitewashed Pakistan, and said: “They (Pakistan) operated well on that surface. Our guys adapted well right through the series. The surfaces have been slightly on the slower side, credit to Pakistan’s side. Singles were hard to come by. ODI cricket is fickle in its nature. It is about improving all the time.”
Guptill was named Man of the Match, and said: “Skidding on with the new ball. Precautionary to get off, the shoulder is fine. Reasonable form, not my most fluent work, but sometimes, you have to score the tough runs. We’ve had to do a lot of hard grafts with the bat.”