ICC World T20: Jamshed, Ajmal Help Pakistan Beat New Zealand

Pakistan managed to hold their wits in spite of a spirited late order charge from New Zealand, to notch yet another win. While the win might have been only by 13 runs, the margin of victory seems close only because of a late blitz by Ross Taylor.

After opting to bat Pakistan started of strongly through their captain Hafeez and Imran Nazir. Nazir after batting effortlessly once again gave away his wicket with a silly shot. Nasir Jamshed who is taking rapid strides in international cricket came to the crease to replace Nazir. The lefthander took no time to settle into run making as he kept dispatching the bowlers to all parts of the ground. He finished with 56 off 35 deliveries and looked good to score even more before he got dismissed. The captain too played his part in an innings of 43. Umar Akmal gave the necessary boost at the end of the innings to take it to 177.

In reply, New Zealand began well maingly through Rob Nicol and got 54 in their first six overs. The openers departed one after the other, and it was left to Vettori and Brendon McCullum to hold the innings together. With 102 for 2 in 14 overs, New Zealand were in with a chance, but three quick qickets pushed them too far behind the eight ball. Ross Taylor though produced a fine innings of 26 in 11 balls and raised hopes of an unlikely win. Just when he threatened more damage, he got run out. Scoring 21 runs off eight deliveries was to prove too much for the lesser talented batsmen in the side and in the end Pakistan were deserved winners. Unsurprisingly, Saeed Ajmal managed to spin a web around the batsmen and took four wickets for 30 runs.