Hay, Sears propel New Zealand to series win

A career-best innings from Mitch Hay (99* off 78) followed by a clinical bowling performance helped New Zealand to a series-sealing 84-run win over Pakistan in the second ODI in Hamilton. Put into bat, New Zealand were in a position of strife at 132/5 but Hay's masterclass propelled them to a tall score of 292 on a spicy pitch that had enough in it for the pacers. In reply, Pakistan were 32/5 in no time and from there, the result was a foregone conclusion. Fifties from Faheem Ashraf (73 off 80) and concussion sub Naseem Shah (51* off 44) only managed to reduce the margin of defeat for the visitors.

Earlier on, Mohammad Rizwan won a good toss under overcast conditions on a grassy Seddon Park surface but his new-ball bowlers were all over the place. As a result, New Zealand raced away to 50 inside six overs despite prodigious movement on offer for the quicks. Haris Rauf finally broke the 54-run opening stand by getting Nick Kelly. Mohammad Wasim Jr, who was bizarrely brought on late, struck to remove the other opener in debutant Rhys Mariu. It was a period of redemption for Pakistan who then choked the run flow through spinner Sufiyan Muqeem (2-33).

While the left-arm wrist spinner got some turn and strangled the batters from one end, the fast bowlers put on an improved show by getting their radar right. As a result, New Zealand lost their way during the middle overs through a mini-collapse. Hay started the rearguard with skipper Muhammad Abbas (41 off 66) with the pair initially taking a lot of time to settle in. However, once they got set, runs steadily came for New Zealand. The partnership put on 77 and it was broken by Muqeem who had Abbas holing out to deep mid-wicket. It was a period when New Zealand were starting to accelerate.

Hay then singlehandedly managed the innings for the last 10.1 overs by farming the strike with the lower order. He ensured that the home side would go on to bat the entire 50 overs and gradually upped the ante in the final overs. The 50th over, bowled by Wasim Jr, went for 22 as New Zealand finished on a challenging total. Hay was unfortunate to miss out on his maiden ODI ton but had produced an impact innings for his side. Pakistan knew that the target was a gargantuan one and New Zealand's new-ball bowlers put on a clinic on how to exploit this surface.

Pakistan's top-five all fell for single digits Ben Sears, Jacob Duffy and Will ORourke sliced through the top order. There was ample seam movement on offer and steep bounce further complicated the batters' misery. Apart from being beaten on the outside edge repeatedly, Pakistan's batters also copped blows on the body many times. From 32/5, there was no going back and Ashraf along with Naseem combined to avoid embarrassment for the tourists. The latter came on as a concussion sub after Rauf had been hit on the helmet by a sharp O'Rourke bumper.

They put on 60 for the ninth wicket and after Ashraf fell, Naseem played a few more shots to get Pakistan past the 200-run mark, a feat that looked improbable at one stage. It still ended as a hefty defeat for the visitors who were insipid with both bat and ball during the first 15 overs. Sears (5-59) was the pick of New Zealand's seamers with a fifer while Duffy (3-35) was the other incisive performer with the ball.

Brief scores: New Zealand 292/7 in 50 overs (Mitch Hay 99*, Muhammad Abbas 41; Sufiyan Muqeem 2-33) beat Pakistan 208 in 41.2 overs (Faheem Ashraf 73, Naseem Shah 51; Ben Sears 5-59) by 84 runs.