Pakistan take an unbeatable 3-0 lead against New Zealand

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Karachi. Taking advantage of New Zealand’s mistakes, Pakistan won the third ODI by 26 runs on Wednesday night to take an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.

All-rounder Cole McConchie, playing on debut, scored a daring unbeaten 64 while Tom Blundell (65) top-scored but team errors ruined their efforts as hosts Pakistan won the match by 26 runs.

Opener Imam-ul-Haq (90) and skipper Babar Azam (54) made Pakistan a strong score of 287/6 in 50 overs but the Kiwis were bundled out for 261 in the last over, their third consecutive defeat.

Tom Blundell, making his debut in the series, top-scored but was one of two unnecessary run-outs. Blundell and Will Young added 83 runs for the first wicket in 15.3 overs but Young was run out after scoring 33 runs in 41 balls.

After Blundell’s dismissal, the Kiwis’ batting lacked the power to take them around the target.

New Zealand needed 97 runs in the last 10 overs but Pakistan’s victory was assured when Tom Latham was dismissed for 45 off 60 balls.

McConchie struggled unilaterally, scoring an unbeaten 64 in 45 balls with the help of six fours and two sixes, but he did not get any support from the other batsmen.

Earlier, after the early dismissal of Fakhar Zaman, Babar and Imam-ul-Haq added 108 runs for the second wicket. Babar scored 54 runs in 62 balls while Imam-ul-Haq scored 90 runs in 107 balls with the help of seven fours and two sixes.

Pakistan scored 287 runs for six wickets and set a target of 288 runs in front of New Zealand, which proved to be big for the visiting team in the end. For Pakistan, Naseem Shah 2-41, Mohammad Wasim 2-50 and Shaheen Shah Afridi 2-52 took two wickets each.(IANS)

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