MOUNT MAUNGANUI: Pak­istan ended a disappointing tour of New Zealand on another sombre note on Saturday, losing the third and final One-day International by 43 runs as their brittle batting was exposed again.

The tourists were dismissed for 221 off 40 overs in response to New Zealand’s 264-8, in a match shortened to 42 overs by a wet outfield.

It followed the pattern of the first two games, with the hosts winning the opener in Napier by 73 runs, followed by an 84-run victory in Hamilton.

Pakistan arrived in New Zealand with a new-look squad, eager to shrug off a disappointing performance at the recent Champions Trophy which they hosted and hoping to build towards next year’s T20 World Cup. New Zealand dominated the preceding T20 series, winning 4-1.

“Obviously it was a disappointing series for us,” Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan said. “But if you look at the positives, Babar Azam is in very good touch. Looking at the bowling Sufiyan Muqeem was the guy. You have to give credit to New Zealand in all departments. They played very well for the last couple of months. They played well in Pakistan against us and they are true professionals. And we need to improve and that’s it, we need to play better against the new ball.”

Pakistan struggled throughout the tour to adjust to the sustained bounce and movement of New Zealand’s seam attack and their batsmen were again guilty of rash shots at Bay Oval.

Aggressive pace bowler Ben Sears claimed 5-34 to follow his five-wicket bag in Hamilton, with four of his victims falling to short-pitched deliveries.

Player of the series Sears became the first New Zealander to claim five wickets in successive ODIs and said he simply appreciated a chance to play in the 50-over series, having previously been considered a T20 specialist.

“It was a cool couple of days, I’m pretty grateful to get the opportunity against a really good team and it was cool to get some wickets,” said Sears, who adopted the same successful approach in both games. “Same plan, it was just trying to hold it through the middle and just keep that pressure going. It was just cool to be part of that performance.”

With the start of the match delayed for two hours, Rhys Mariu scored a maiden half-century after New Zealand were asked to bat first.

Opener Mariu, playing just his second international match, scored a composed 58 off 61 balls, featuring six fours and two sixes.

A number of New Zealand middle-order batsmen made starts — Daryl Mitchell passing 2,000 runs in ODIs — but didn’t press on for big scores until captain Michael Bracewell produced a flashy 59 at the death.

Bracewell struck six sixes in his 40-ball knock before being caught off the last ball of the innings bowled by Akif Javed.

Seamer Akif took 4-62 off his eight overs although Naseem Shah was arguably the best of the Pakistan bowlers, taking 2-54 and bowling with good pace and movement.

Pakistan made a strong start to their chase despite a shocking injury to opener Imam-ul-Haq, who retired hurt in the third over after being struck in the head by a throw at the stumps.

Imam was attempting a quick single when a throw to the non-striker’s end lodged in the grill of his helmet. He was clearly dazed and struggled to stand steadily before being helped from the field.

Babar Azam rallied Pakistan after the incident with 50 off 58 balls which, with support from Abdullah Safique (33) and Mohammad Rizwan (37), helped Pakistan to 95-1 at the midpoint of their innings.

With 10 overs remaining, Pakistan were 167-4 and well in the match: New Zealand were 165-4 at the same stage. But New Zealand took 99 runs from the last 10 overs of their innings and Pakistan couldn’t match that finish.

Tayyab Tahir made 33 from 31 balls but when he holed out in the 39th over with Pakistan 218-9 the chase was all but over.

SCOREBOARD

NEW ZEALAND:

R. Mariu lbw Sufiyan58

N. Kelly c Abdullah b Naseem3

H. Nicholls c Wasim Jr b Akif31

D. Mitchell c Rizwan b Akif43

T. Seifert c Tayyab b Naseem26

M. Bracewell c Naseem b Akif59

M. Abbas c Rizwan b Akif11

M. Hay c Babar b Faheem8

B. Sears not out5

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-5, NB-2, W-9)20

TOTAL (for eight wkts, 42 overs)264

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-13 (Kelly), 2-91 (Nicholls), 3-103 (Mariu), 4-164 (Seifert), 5-186 (Mitchell), 6-211 (Abbas), 7-244 (Hay), 8-264 (Bracewell)

DID NOT BAT: J. Duffy, W. O’Rourke.

BOWLING: Naseem 9-0-54-2 (3w), Akif 8-1-62-4 (4w, 2nb), Faheem 5-0-31-1 (1w), Wasim Jr 8-0-47-0 (1w), Salman 3-0-16-0, Sufiyan 9-0-45-1.

PAKISTAN:

Abdullah Shafique c Duffy b Sears33

Imam-ul-Haq retired hurt1

Babar Azam c Seifert b Mitchell50

Usman Khan c Bracewell b Abbas12

Mohammad Rizwan c Hay b Duffy37

Salman Ali Agha c Duffy b Sears11

Tayyab Tahir c Seifert b Duffy33

Faheem Ashraf c Seifert b Bracewell3

Naseem Shah c Hay b Sears17

M. Wasim Jr c O’Rourke b Sears 0

Akif Javed not out1

Sufiyan Muqeem c Abbas b Sears2

EXTRAS (LB-2, W-19)21

TOTAL (all out, 40 overs)221

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-73 (Abdullah), 2-97 (Usman), 3-108 (Babar), 4-135 (Salman), 5-169 (Rizwan), 6-176 (Faheem), 7-212 (Naseem), 8-212 (Wasim), 9-218 (Tayyab).

BOWLING: O’Rourke 9-0-60-0 (5w), Duffy 7-0-40-2 (1w), Sears 9-0-34-5 (4w), Bracewell 8-0-39-1 (2w), Abbas 3-0-16-1, Mitchell 4-0-30-1 (3w).

RESULT: New Zealand won by 43 runs.

SERIES: New Zealand won 3-0.

PLAYER-OF-THE-MATCH: Michael Bracewell (New Zealand)

PLAYER-OF-THE-SERIES: Ben Sears (New Zealand).

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2025