HAMILTON: Mitchell Hay’s rollicking 99 not out backed by some feisty seam bowling steered New Zealand to an 84-run win over Pakistan in Hamilton on Wednesday as they took an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the One-day International series.

New Zealand made 292-8 and bowled Pakistan out for 208 in the 42nd over at the Seddon Park in the second of three ODIs.

Wicket-keeper/batter Hay’s lusty hitting in his sixth ODI outing snapped a mid-innings slump by the hosts as he raced to a career-best ODI knock, which included blasting 22 off the final over by Mohammad Wasim.

The 24-year-old Hay downplayed his innings as “just swinging from the hip and hoping” but Hay’s captain Michael Bracewell saw it as a match-defining performance.

“We lost a few wickets then the way Mitch batted at the end was outstanding, and throughout his whole innings, to get us through to a competitive total,” Bracewell said.

Rizwan also termed Hay’s belligerent knock as crucial.

“Mitch Hay, he played very well and that’s why they [New Zealand] posted a good target on the board,” he said.

Batting at number seven, Hay smacked seven fours and as many sixes in his 78-ball innings to steer New Zealand out from a perilous 132-5 in the 27th over.

In reply, Pakistan were in early trouble when Will O’Rourke had Abdullah Shafique caught at first slip for one in the third over.

Babar Azam and Imam-ul-Haq quickly followed, dismissed by Jacob Duffy, to leave Pakistan tottering at 9-3 midway through the sixth over.

Ben Sears, who finished with 5-59 which was the 27-year-old pacer’s maiden five-wicket haul in ODIs, took two wickets in his first over — Salman Agha for nine and Rizwan for five — to reduce the visitors to 32-5. Sears was playing only his third ODI.

Tayyab Tahir and Faheem Ashraf put on 33 off nine overs but when Sears removed Tayyab and Wasim it was 72-7 .

Haris Rauf on three was hit by a nasty blow to the helmet from a rising delivery from O’Rourke and had to retire hurt.

It was his concussion replacement, Naseem Shah, who began to show some fight as he put on rearguard 60 stand with Faheem Ashraf. Both posted maiden ODI fifties with Faheem scoring 73 and Naseem 51.

Rizwan acknowledged his shoulder injury, stating it’s part of the game.

“It [injury] is sore but [it’s] part of the game,” Rizwan said at the post-match presentation.

He admitted to Pakistan’s poor performance, citing their inability to capitalise on the swing and New Zealand’s disciplined bowling.

“We didn’t do well; we didn’t utilise the swing, and they bowled very well,” the Pakistan skipper stated.

“Later on, Faheem and Naseem fought well for us. These are challenging conditions for us, but we can’t make excuses.”

Rizwan recognised the challenging conditions but emphasised the need for improvement.

“We are professional cricketers, and we need to do something different. The bowlers of New Zealand were very disciplined, they bowled the hard lengths. In the last couple of months, we lost the key moments.

“Today, we didn’t do well with the ball and bat in the first 10 overs. Credit to [Mitch] Hay as well; the way he batted was amazing.”

Expressing uncertainty about the pitch at Mount Maunganui where the third ODI will be staged on Saturday, the wicket-keeper/batter stated they would assess the conditions before the match.

“We don’t know much about the pitch in Tauranga, we will go there and assess the conditions,” Rizwan added.

Earlier, novice Black Caps openers Nick Kelly and Rhys Mariu put on 54 after being asked to bat by Rizwan.

Kelly was caught behind for a hard-hitting 31 which included four fours and two sixes and debutant Mariu made 18.

Henry Nicholls and Daryl Mitchell took New Zealand past 100 in the 16th over.

Mitchell was stumped by Rizwan off left-arm wrist spinner Sufyan Moqim for 18 and Nicholls went for 22 in the following over.

Michael Bracewell and Muhammad Abbas trod water to add only 30 runs in 10 overs until Bracewell was caught behind off Wasim for 17.

Pakistan-born Abbas and Hay set about restoring the innings with a patient 77-run partnership until Abbas went for 41.Sufyan was the pick of the Pakistan bowlers with 2-33.

Scoreboard

NEW ZEALAND:

R. Mariu c Babar b Wasim 18

N. Kelly c Rizwan b Haris 31

H. Nicholls lbw Akif 22

D. Mitchell st Rizwan b Sufiyan 18

M. Bracewell c Rizwan b Wasim 17

M. Abbas c Abdullah b Sufiyan 41

M. Hay not out 99

N. Smith c Salman b Faheem 8

B. Sears run out 6

EXTRAS (LB-12, W-20) 32

TOTAL (for eight wickets, 50 overs) 292

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-54 (Kelly), 2-71 (Mariu), 3-100 (Mitchell), 4-102 (Nicholls), 5-132 (Bracewell), 6-209 (Abbas), 7-236 (Smith), 8-270 (Sears)

DID NOT BAT: J. Duffy, W. O’Rourke

BOWLING: Faheem 10-0-46-1 (3w); Akif 10-0-48-1 (6w); Haris 10-0-75-1 (5w); Wasim 10-0-78-2 (4w); Sufiyan 10-1-33-2

PAKISTAN:

Abdullah Shafique c Mitchell b O’Rourke 1

Imam ul-Haq c Mitchell b Duffy 3

Babar Azam c Nicholls b Duffy 1

Muhammad Rizwan c Hay b Sears 5

Salman Ali Agha c Smith b Sears 9

Tayyab Tahir c Sears b Smith 13

Faheem Ashraf c Hay b Sears 73

Muhammad Wasim c Hay b Sears 1

Haris Rauf retired hurt 3

Akif Javed c Mitchell b Duffy 8

Naseem Shah c Hay b Sears 51

Sufiyan Muqeem not out 13

EXTRAS (LB-13, NB-1, W-13) 27

TOTAL (all out, 41.2 overs) 208

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-6 (Abdullah), 2-7 (Babar), 3-9 (Imam), 4-31 (Salman), 5-32 (Rizwan), 6-65 (Tayyab), 7-72 (Wasim), 8-114 (Akif), 9-174 (Faheem)

BOWLING: O’Rourke 8-1-19-1 (8w); Duffy 8-1-35-3 (2w); Sears 9.2-0-59-5 (1w); Smith 10-0-53-1 (1w, 1nb); Bracewell 6-0-29-0 (1w)

RESULT: New Zealand won by 84 runs.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Mitchell Hay

SERIES: New Zealand lead three-match series 2-0.

Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2025