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Pallekele: New Zealand's late fightback went in vain as Pakistan beat the Kiwis by 13 runs in a thrilling encounter in their World T20 match in Pallekele on Sunday.
The Kiwis were left stranded requiring a high run rate when they lost Daniel Vettori and Brendon McCullum in quick succession before Saeed Ajmal struck for the second time to dismiss Jacob Oram.
McCullum was left completely bemused when Umar Gul's swinging delivery trickled back slowly to knock off the leg stump bail.
After a steady start to the innings, the Kiwis lost both their openers when Kane Williamson (15) was run out immediately after Shahid Afridi struck to dismiss Rob Nicol (33).
Afridi gave Pakistan an important breakthrough in his first over as he dismissed Kiwi opener Nicol for 33 runs, which included three 4s and a single six.
A beautiful Afridi swinger, which depicts his natural style of bowling, was instrumental in knocking Nicol's off stump out of the ground.
Williamson on the other hand failed to capitalize on his impressive start as a splendid effort in the field led to him falling short of reaching the crease.
Chasing a target of 178, openers Nicol and Kane Williamson gave the New Zealand innings a steady start by putting up a speedy 50-run partnership in just 38 balls.
Earlier, after being spearheaded by Nasir Jamshed (56), Pakistan set up a formidable target of 178 for New Zealand.
Daniel Vettori scalped the dangerous Jamshed after he scored a quick 27-ball fifty that included two 4s and four 6s to lead the Pakistan attack.
Jamshed put up a blistering partnership with Pakistan skipper Mohammad Hafeez (43) before Hafeez lost his wicket to James Franklin.
A perfect delivery by Franklin was able to find the off stump of Hafeez, who was earlier dropped by Kiwi skipper Ross Taylor on the third ball of the innings.
Jamshed while trying to make room on the offside hit a slower Vettori delivery towards the boundary where Nathan McCullum made no mistake in catching a simple catch.
Earlier, Jacob Oram was able to get the better of Kamran Akmal when the Pakistan wicketkeeper was caught comfortably on the cover boundary by Rob Nicol.
The Pakistan duo of Jamshed and Hafeez added quickfire 50 runs for the second wicket after losing opener Imran Nazir, which helped Pakistan scored 100 runs in just 10.5 overs.
The first Pakistan wicket fell when seamer Tim Southee gave New Zealand crucial breakthrough as he got rid of dangerous Pakistani opener Nazir.
Nazir and skipper Hafeez gave Pakistan terrific start as the duo added 47 runs for the opening wicket. Pakistan just lost only one wicket while added 51 runs during the first six overs of powerplay.
Nazir was hitting well before being caught and bowled by paceman Southee, who held up a fine catch on his follow through. Nazir scored a quickfire 16-ball 25 with the help of five boundaries.
Brief scores
Pakistan 177 for 6 (Jamshed 56, Hafeez 43)
New Zealand 164 for 9 (Nicol 33, B McCullum 32, Ajmal 4-30)
Result Pakistan won by 13 runs
Points Pakistan 2, New Zealand 0
MOM Nasir Jamshed (Pakistan)
