Gul leads Pakistan to 6 wicket win over Kiwis

By
for Cricketain.com

Published: June 14, 2009

London, Jun 13 2009: Umar Gul bulldozed New Zealand with a sensational five-wicket haul as Pakistan defeated New Zealand by six-wicket to keep their semifinals hopes alive in the World Twenty20 here today.

Gul’s incredible fast bowling spell resulted in Kiwi’s complete demolition as they were all out for a paltry 99 in 18.3 overs after deciding to bat in this Super Eight match.

Gul, introduced as late as in the 13th over, wreaked havoc in his three-over spell and emerged as the first bowler to claim five wickets in T20 Internationals.

Abdul Razzaq (2/17), playing first match for his country after quitting ICL, celebrated his return by rocking the Kiwi top-order at the start.Pakistan almost made a mess of an easy chase before scoring the required runs with 6.5 overs to spare at the Oval.

The victory has strengthened Pakistan’s chances of making the finals stage as they next play minnows Ireland on Monday.

Shahzaib Hasan (35) Kamran Akmal (19) began the chase in right earnest, putting up 36 runs in 4.2 overs but departure of the latter triggered a mini collapse.

Kiwi skipper Daniel Vettori (2/20) dismissed Abdul Razzaq and Shoaib Malik to jolt the Pakistani camp. However, skipper Younus Khan and Sahid Afridi saw the team through with a 29(rpt 29-run) partnership.

McCullum had began fantastically, sending the first and last balls of the first over, bowled by Mohammed Aamer to boundaries but Razzaq cut short his knock.

Aamer had dealt the Kiwis second blow by sending back Aaron Redmond, who mistimed a full toss to find Umal Gul at mid-on. The Kiwis never recovered from early blows and kept losing wickets at regular intervals, which took a heavy toll on their run rate.

Styris tried to break the shackles by hitting Saeed Ajmal for a long-on six as New Zealand huffed and puffed to 56 for four at half-way mark.

For Kiwis to reach a fighting total it was imperative for Styris and Jacob Oram to bat through the innings but charged up Pakistanis played a perfect foil.

Oram (5) was dismissed by an unplayable Shahid Afridi and Styris (22) was done in by a stunner of a catch by Afridi.

Scoreboard of the Super Eight match of the Twenty20 World Cup between Pakistan and New Zealand at the Oval here.

New Zealand:

Brendon McCullum c F Alam b Razzaq 12
Aaron Redmond c U Gul b Aamer 15
Martin Guptill lbw b Razzaq 8
Scott Styris c Afridi b Gul 22
Jacob Oram c Misbah b Afridi 5
Peter McGlashan lbw b Gul 8
Nathan McCullum b Gul 7
James Franklin b Gul 7
Daniel Vettori run out 8
Kyle Mills c Hasan b Gul 0
Ian Butler not out 1

Extras: (LB-4, WD-2)                   6

Total (all out in 18.3 overs)         99

Fall of wicket: 1-17, 2-33, 3-37, 4-55, 5-73, 6-74, 7-88, 8-93, 9-93.

Bowing: Mohammad Aamer 3-0-23-1, Abdul Razzaq 3.3-1-1-2, Saeed Ajmal 4-0-24-0, Shahid Afridi 4-0-17-1, Shoaib Malik 1-0-8-0, Umar Gul 3-0-6-5.

Pakistan:

Kamran Akmal c Guptill b Mills 19
Shahzaib Hasan run out 35
Abdul Razzaq c McGlashan b Vettori 5
Shoaib Malik c B McCullum b Vettori 4
Shahid Afridi not out 29
Younis Khan not out 6

Extras (W-1, NB-1)                      2

Total (for 4 wickets in 13.1 overs)   100

Fall of wickets: 1-36, 2-61, 3-61, 4-71.

Bowling: Kyle Mills 4-0-28-1, James Franklin 2-0-19-0, Daniel Vettori 4-0-20-2, Ian Butler 2-0-22-0, Nathan McCullum 1.1-0-11-0.


WPSN comments