Pallekele, March 8: Ross Taylor celebrated his 27th birthday in style by smashing an unbeaten knock of 131 to help New Zealand defeat Pakistan by 110 runs in a Group A encounter of the 2011 ICC World Cup. The match, played at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, was a day/night affair.
Earlier, New Zealand won the toss and opted to bat first. The only notable contribution in the first half of their innings was a half-century from opener Martin Guptill (57) as the Kiwis struggled to a total of 119 for four in 30 overs. But things changed from that stage as Ross Taylor took the attack to Pakistan.
The middle-order batsman first struck a valuable 62-run partnership with Scott Styris (28) and then added a hurricane 85 runs for the seventh wicket with Jacob Oram. In fact it was Taylor’s late blitz with Oram (25 off 9 balls) that pushed the Kiwi total to beyond 300. From a score of 210 for six wickets at the end of 46 overs, New Zealand added 92 runs off the last four overs, 28, 30 and 27 off which came in the 47th, 49th and the 50th over, of their innings to take their score to 302. Taylor struck seven sixes and eight fours in his unbeaten knock of 131.
After that onslaught, Pakistan were never really in the game. Their top order was dismissed by the Kiwi bowling pair of Tim Southee (3/25) and Kyle Mills (2/43), while Shahid Afridi (17) fell to Jacob Oram to leave Pakistan at the brink of disaster at 66 for six in 17.1 overs. Umar Akmal (38) and Abdul Razzaq (62) helped Pakistan’s total reach some semblance of respectability but when the end came at the score of 192, Pakistan had crashed to a 110-run defeat.
New Zealand’s win takes them to the top of the standings in Group A with six points, while Pakistan, also on six points but a poorer net run-rate than the Kiwis, take second place.
Brief scores: New Zealand 302 for 7 in 50 overs (Ross Taylor 131*, Martin Guptill 57, Umar Gul 3/32) beat Pakistan192 all out in 41.4 overs (Abdul Razzaq 62, Tim Southee 3/25, Scott Styris 2/17) by 110 runs
Man-of-the-match: Ross Taylor for his sensational 124-ball knock of 131* that set New Zealand up for a winning total of 302
