New Zealand reach 283-9 against England
DURHAM: Ben Wheeler’s quickfire 39 not out took New Zealand to 283 for nine against England in the fifth and deciding one-day international at the Riverside.
With the series all square at 2-2 after an orgy of runs where totals under 350 had seemed below par, England reduced New Zealand to 261 for eight heading into the last over of the World Cup finalists’ innings.
But the 50th over saw fast bowler Steven Finn concede 22 runs, including three sixes. Wheeler, who only faced 28 balls in total, ended the innings by striking Finn for a four and two sixes off successive deliveries. But with rain falling during the innings break, it was possible England would face a revised total rather than a target of 284.
All- rounder Ben Stokes led England’s attack with threefor 52 in a maximum 10 overs on his Durham home ground. Leg-spinner Adil Rashid, whose eight overs in England’s series-levelling seven-wicket win at Trent Bridge on Wednesday cost an expensive 75 runs, bounced back well with two for 45 in 10 overs.
New Zealand opener Martin Guptill (67) and the in- form Kane Williamson (50) both posted half centuries, while Ross Taylor, dropped on 19, made 47.
Their total did see World Cup finalists New Zealand exceed their previous highest aggregate for a five-match ODI series of 1,460 runs set against India in 2014/15. Any thoughts of a comfortable England chase would have been tempered by the fact that last year at the Riverside, batting second in similarly overcast conditions, they were dismissed for 99 by Sri Lanka in a 157-run ODI defeat. AGENCIES KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board ( PCB) has managed to get a stay order from a local sessions court against former Pakistan players, Sarfaraz Nawaz and Aamir Sohail from speaking against the board and former Chairman, Najam Sethi.
The legal advisor of the board, Tafazzul Rizvi said that the PCB had filed a damages and defamation suit against the two former players in the district court in Lahore. “The Additional District Judge Sohail Shafiq has granted us a restraining/ stay order against Sarfaraz Nawaz and Aamir Sohail from leveling false, malicious and defamatory allegations against the PCB and Najam Sethi in the print and electronic media,” Tafazzul Rizvi said.
The two former players in particularly former Test pacer Sarfaraz Nawaz had made serious allegations against Sethi, who is presently a senior member of the board and heads its executive committee.
The two players had alleged that Sethi was made Chairman in 2013 because of his political connections and also made claims of misuse of power against him. PTI