New Zealand became the first team to qualify for the knock-out stage in the ICC World T20 on the back of a supreme show from Martin Guptill first, and then their bowlers thereby ending the dream of Pakistanis.
Guptill's 80 formed the fulcrum of the New Zealand innings that gave them a formidable total of 180 to defend, to which Pakistan fell short by 22 runs. They had the start they needed, but the disappointing bit was to see them squander that advantage once Sharjeel Khan provided the most amazing starts in recent memory getting Pakistan to cruise along well over the required rate. New Zealand's bowling recovered inspiringly and it never allowed the rest of the Pakistan batsmen to settle.
It took just one ball for Pakistan to get off the blocks. And what followed was a sublime exhibition of clean hitting. Unlike their start against India, where the Indian spinners had them on the mat, here Pakistan raced away to one of their most brisk starts in recent memory. Leading the charge was Sharjeel, who cracked five off the first six fours in 13 balls, setting the ideal foundation to build on.
It was as crisp as they come. New Zealand's ploy of opening the bowling with Mitchell Santner missed its aim. The first over yielded 15 runs and 18 came off the second and third over combined. Matt Henry and Mitchell McClenaghan took a pounding for being too leg-sidish and short. Anything offered on Sharjeel's off stump and the batsman made merry of that error.
The hitting didn't stop there. McClenaghan went for 18 off his first over, Henry nine. If Guptill had raced along during New Zealand's Powerplay, Sharjeel had moved to top gear. Anything that was relatively there to pounce on, Sharjeel did it with utter disdain. It took just four overs to bring up Pakistan's 50. They were going at over 12 an over, while the required was nine.
The wicket that New Zealand wanted finally arrived in the sixth over off Milne. One shot too many, Sharjeel skied a lofted drive to the fielder at point. New Zealand, sensing the damage caused by spin, resorted to taking the pace off the ball. Grant Elliott and Santner were made to operate in tandem and that slowed Pakistan down a tad, with the left-armer having Khalid Latif caught at long-on at three.
New Zealand had applied the squeeze. The boundaries had dried up and to some extent even singles were stopped. Sodhi keeping things tight was what Santner needed for an improved second spell and he saw off Shehzad, who was beginning to look dangerous. Pakistan had two new batsmen in the middle in Umar Akmal and Shahid Afridi and the skipper launched a six and four to ensure that his side never lost ground.
Pakistan needed these two to carry on if they had a chance to overhaul the target but Zealand had settled into a nice flow. Afridi danced down in attempt to clear the rope and was taken athletically in the deep by Anderson. Umar Akmal looked out of sorts too as New Zealand zeroed in with a good couple of overs from Sodhi and McClenaghan, which one can say shifted the balance in New Zealand's favour.
Guptill continued his stellar form this year in T20s, speeding to his fourth half-century in eight innings and taking his tally of runs to 377 this year. There was hardly any movement for the Pakistan fast bowlers to which the New Zealand openers middled most of what they connected. Guptill began the assault with a sky-high six off Mohammad Irfan and a four down the ground off Amir. If the ball was in the slot, Guptill went back and followed it through.
Guptill was at his belligerent best. A couple of edges flew towards the third-man boundary, but that was it. The second over from Amir was taken for 12 runs, and Afridi had to settle for a bowling change. He did not allow any bowler to settle. Left-arm spinner Imad Wasim was wacked down the ground over the ropes for a six, while Sami conceded 10 in his first over. That Kane Williamson looked a bit iffy never caused any problems for New Zealand for it was nullified by the Guptill effect.
Brief Scores: Pakistan 158/5 (Sharjeel 47, Shehzad 30; Santner 2/29) lose to New Zealand 180/5 (Guptill 80, Ross Taylor 36*; Afridi 2/40) by 22 runs.
