NZ humble Pakistan by innings

NZ humble Pakistan by innings
Associated Press

Hamilton, March 30: New Zealand, paced by a record-setting 98 by Craig McMillan, crushed Pakistan by an innings and 185 runs in the third cricket Test on Friday to level the series 1-1 at Seddon Park.

McMillan hit a world record 26 runs in one over Friday morning to enable New Zealand to declare on 407 for four. Pakistan then capitulated against some penetrative line and length bowling to be all out for a 118 in 49.5 overs on the fourth day.

Swing bowlers Daryl Tuffey (3-38), who finished the series with 16 wickets at an average of 23.00, and James Franklin with a career-best 4-26, made short work of the Pakistan second innings. This was after some reckless batting on the first day had ended its first innings at 104 after just 26.5 overs. It was a remarkable turnaround for the New Zealand side that had embarrassingly collapsed on the fifth morning of the series opener in Auckland and lost by 299 runs. The two teams played out a high-scoring draw in the second Test in Christchurch.

New Zealand had gone into the Test series after coming from behind to win the five-match one-day series 3-2. It was the biggest victory margin for New Zealand in its 288-Test history and was more remarkable considering 122 overs were lost over the first three days due to bad weather, including a complete washout on the second day. “That was as close to a perfect Test you can play, bar a couple of (dropped) catches on the first day,” said Kiwis skipper Stephen Fleming. “It was the most complete performance and obviously shows by the size of the victory.”

McMillan reverse sweeps to world Test record: New Zealand batsman Craig McMillan, who set a world Test record for most runs in a six-ball over on Friday, took delight in using the reverse sweep shot for which he has been admonished.McMillan smashed 26 off leg-spinner Younis Khan’s only over in the third and final Test against Pakistan, beating the mark of 24 held jointly by five other players. He hit five fours and a six from the six balls, three of his fours coming from reverse sweeps.

The five players to share the previous record of 24 are West Indian Andy Roberts, Sandeep Patil of India, England’s Ian Botham, New Zealander Ian Smith and India’s Kapil Dev. Bert Sutcliffe of New Zealand scored 25 off an eight-ball over. “I enjoyed the three reverse sweeps the best,” said McMillan who gave a punch in the air after hitting the final boundary. “I’ve had some stick for playing that shot, but I practise it in the nets and only play it when a certain field is set. Younis was bowling to a heavy on-side field, so it was a practical shot to play and it was profitable today.”

Scoreboard
Pakistan (1st Innings): 104
New Zealand (1st Innings): M H Richardson c Imran Farhat b Akbar 106, C McMillan c Waqar Younis b Fazle Akbar 98, S Fleming not out 51. Extras (lb-10, nb-10) 20. Total (for 4 wckts decl., 112.2 overs) 407
Fall of wickets: 3-260, 4-407
Bowling: Waqar Younis 31-2-98-1, Fazle Akbar 27.2-6-85-3, Mohamad Akram 22-1-106-0, Saqlain Mushtaq 31-6-82-0, Younis Khan 1-0-26-0.
Pakistan (2nd Innings): Imran Farhat c McMillan b Tuffey 1, Ijaz Ahmed c Parore b Franklin 17, Faisal Iqbal c Bradburn b Tuffey 5, Inzaman-ul-Haq c Tuffey b Franklin 20, Youuf Youhana c Parore b Martin 16, Younis Khan c Astle b Tuffey 4, Humayun Farhat c Bradburn b Martin 26, Saqlain Mushtaq c Martin b Franklin 14, Waqar Younis c Parore b McMillan 4, Fazle Akbar not out 0, Mohammad Akram c and b Franklin 4. Extras (lb-2, nb-5) 7. Total (all out in 49.5 overs) 118
Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-20, 3-43, 4-54, 5-69, 6-71, 7-97, 8-114, 9-114.
Bowling: Tuffey 19-5-38-3, Martin 15-2-48-2, Franklin 9.5-3-26-4, McMillan 5-3-2-1, Astle 1-0-2-0.