Boult strikes death blow to Pakistan in opener
Taylor sparks controversy by complaining to umpires about Hafeez’s bowling action
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New-dad Trent Boult rocked Pakistan with a hat-trick in his first over and the hosts never fully recovered to eventually lose the opening encounter of the three-match ODI series against New Zealand by 47 runs at the Shaikh Zayed Stadium yesterday.
With that win, the Kiwis have extended their unbeaten record over Pakistan since 2014 to 12 successive matches. Fakhar Zaman, the in-form Babar Azam and Mohammad Hafeez were Boult’s victims with just eight on-board.
Pakistan were reduced to 83 for 6 once opener Imam Ul-Haq (36) and Shoaib Malik (30) departed after putting a partnership of 63 for the fourth wicket.
Skipper Sarfraz Ahmed (64 off 69) and Imad Wasim (50 off 72) also put up a fightback with a partnership of 103 for the seventh wicket but it wasn’t enough and Pakistan was eventually bowled out for 219 in 47.2 overs. Lockie Ferguson also finished with three wickets.
Earlier, during the New Zealand innings, Ross Taylor triggered a controversy by indicating to the umpires about Hafeez’s bowling action as if the off-spinner was chucking.
Captain Sarfraz immediately intervened and was seen expressing his displeasure with both umpires — Shozab Raza and Joel Wilson. It has to be recalled that Hafeez was suspended three times by ICC in 2014, 2015 and 2017. He got a clean chit from the ICC in April 2018. It will be interesting to see how the ICC officials review this case in the coming days.
Pakistan earlier let the Black Caps off the hook after reducing them to 210 for 7 and allowed them to post a competitive 266 for 9 in 50 overs.