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This is an archive article published on June 15, 2009

Gul credits success to Wasim and Waqar

He single-handedly demolished New Zealand with his fiver but Umar Gul gave credit to his sides opening bowlers for laying the foundation of Pakistans victory over New Zealand.

He single-handedly demolished New Zealand with his fiver but Umar Gul gave credit to his sides opening bowlers for laying the foundation of Pakistans victory over New Zealand.

Guls sensational fast bowling spell,which read 3-0-6-5,scripted Pakistans six wicket-win over the Black Caps,which strengthened their chances of making it to the semi-finals of the Twenty20 World Cup. It was a special day. I think the main reason we won was that we bowled well in the first six overs. We did not give too many runs and got three wickets by then. Then I was told to go for wickets and I did that, Gul,the Man of the Match,said.

On being asked about his devastating yorkers,he said,We use to bowl yorkers and low bouncers at practice. Aaqib (Javed) helped me and often Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram gave me a lot of help.

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Pakistan skipper Younis Khan said they decided to use Gul late in the innings because the paceman was best suited to bowling towards end of innings in this format.

It was a good toss to lose. When you get wickets,especially in the first six overs,its good. Guls bowling was the turning point for us. He knows Twenty20,so we wanted to utilise him in the middle of the innings, he said.

New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori admitted that they were never in the reckoning after getting out for a paltry 99. We wanted to exert pressure by scoring a good total. Unfortunately,we did not get that total. They bowled really well and put the ball in decent areas. It was incredibly difficult to defend a 100-run target, he said.

New Zealand will play their last Super Eight match against Sri Lanka on Tuesday and Vettori said they were wary of the strength of their next opponents. They are one of the favourites to win the tournament along with South Africa and we are looking forward for the game on Tuesday.

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