New Zealand women clinched a nerve-wracking thriller on the Hagley Oval in Christchurch by one wicket to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the continuing three-match ODI series towards Pakistan on Friday, December 15. The match went proper down to the wire after the hosts suffered a collapse however vital contributions from the decrease order helped them recover from the road by the barest of margins.
Chasing a mediocre complete of 221 to win, the White Ferns appeared in a spot of trouble as they had been decreased to 13/2 with Amelia Kerr and skipper Sophie Devine again in the hutch. However, a century stand between former captain Suzie Bates and Maddy Green snatched the momentum from Pakistan’s nook and put the house crew in the motive force’s seat.Â
Leg-break bowler Ghulam Fatima offered the guests with the much-needed breakthrough when she removed Bates in the thirty second over. The 28-year-old leggie dented the White Ferns once more in the thirty sixth over when she eliminated Green to throw the sport extensive open.
A batting collapse of a significant scale noticed the Sophie Devine-led aspect go from 155/3 to 198/8. With Pakistan bowlers having their tails up, New Zealand wanted their bowlers to step up with the willow in hand and Lea Tahuhu and firm did the identical.
Tahuhu (21* off 26 balls) batted sensibly and helped her aspect recover from the road in the penultimate over of the sport.
Earlier in the day, stand-in skipper Fatima Sana dazzled with the bat in hand and performed arguably the best knock (90* off 104 balls) of her ODI profession to script a rescue act of the very best order. Her valiant knock propelled Pakistan to 220 with helpful contributions coming from Natalia Pervaiz (39 off 73 balls) and Najiha Alvi (32 off 38 balls).
Meanwhile, the third ODI of the series will probably be performed on Monday, December 18 on the similar venue.
