Fleming guides NZ to easy title triumph

Stephen Fleming topscored with 65 to guide New Zealand to a four-wicket victory over Pakistan in the final of a triangular one-day series on...

Stephen Fleming topscored with 65 to guide New Zealand to a four-wicket victory over Pakistan in the final of a triangular one-day series on Friday.

Chasing Pakistan’s 198, New Zealand scored 200 for six in 45.2 overs to clinch their first one-day tournament victory since the ICC Knockout Tournament in Kenya in 2000. It was also only their second-ever tournament win.

SCOREBOARD

Pakistan: M Hafeez c McCullum b Tuffey 0, F Athar c McCullum b Oram 9, Y Hameed lbw Mills 6, Y Youhana run out 25, Y Khan not out 70, S Malik b Vettori 34, A Razzaq run out 10, R Latif c Tuffey b Oram 20, M Sami c Harris b Oram 7, S Ahmed c McCullum b Tuffey 2, D Kaneria c McCullum b Tuffey 0;
Extras (lb-6, nb-6, w-3) 15
Total (All out, in 50 overs): 198
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-11, 3-39, 4-56, 5-113, 6-136,7-179, 8-194, 9-198.
Bowling: Tuffey 9-2-32-3, Mills 8-0-36-1, Styris 10-2-34-0, Oram 10-1-38-3, Vettori 10-1-32-1, Harris 3-0-20-0.

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New Zealand: C Nevin c Malik b Sami 17, S Fleming c Khan b Sami 65, L Vincent run out 13, S Styris b Sami 22, C Cairns c Razzaq b Ahmed 18, J Oram c Khan b Razzaq 12, C Harris not out 5, B McCullum not out 4
Extras (lb-13, nb-6, w-25): 44
Total (for 6 wkts, in 45.2 overs): 200
Fall of wickets: 1-54, 2-113, 3-151, 4-152, 5-170, 6-194.
Bowling: Sami 10-0-42-3, Ahmed 8.2-0-36-1, Razzaq 3-0-20-1, Hafeez 8-1-25-0, Kaneria 10-2-35-0, Malik 6-0-29-0.

Fleming shared key partnerships with fellow opener Chris Nevin (54 in 72 balls) for the first wicket and Lou Vincent (59 in 101 balls) for the second and were galloping towards victory on 151 for two before pace bowler Mohammad Sami took two wickets in three balls.

Sami had Fleming caught, for 65, by Younis Khan running backwards at extra cover after the New Zealand skipper miscued a pull. Three balls later, Scott Styris (22) chopped a Sami delivery on to his stumps to leave the match finely balanced on 152 for four.

Jacob Oram (12) then slammed three consecutive boundaries to kick start the innings again but clipped a catch to mid-wicket.

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Chris Cairns (18) then carried New Zealand to the brink, before Chris Harris (five not out) and Brendon McCullum (four not out) finished the job. Sami took three for 42 from 10 overs, but the Pakistani bowlers did not help themselves, conceding 44 extras in New Zealand’s total.

Earlier, Younis Khan had cracked an aggressive 70 not out, his 17th one-day fifty, to rescue Pakistan who were struggling at 56 for four after electing to bat.

Oram, back in the side after recovering from a back strain, and Daryl Tuffey shared six wickets, claiming 3-38 and 3-32 respectively.

Opener Mohammad Hafeez was caught behind for a duck off the fourth ball of the day and number three Yasser Hameed was trapped lbw by Kyle Mills for six to leave Pakistan 11 for two in the fourth over.

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When Yousuf Youhana was run out backing up after Scott Styris defected a straight drive onto the stumps, Pakistan were in deep trouble on 56 for four.