da pinnacle： Pakistan end campaign at the bottom with one win while New Zealand’s campaign, too, is all but over
da esoccer bet： Firdose Moonda25-Mar-2022New Zealand’s World Cup campaign all but ended with a display of the value of experience and the exuberance of youth, which combined to secure a big win over Pakistan. Suzie Bates scored her 12th ODI century and became the first New Zealand batter, and fourth overall, to reach 5,000 runs in the format before Katey Martin’s 30 off 26 balls pushed New Zealand’s total over 250 and into challenging territory. Then, Hannah Rowe’s career-best 5 for 55 derailed a decent Pakistan effort and forced a collapse of 6 for 19 which took Pakistan from 155 for 3 to 174 for 9.Although New Zealand still have a mathematical chance of qualification for the semi-finals, they would need South Africa to beat India and Bangladesh to beat England by significant margins to improve their net run-rate considerably. New Zealand bid a packed Hagley Oval farewell with an emotional performance which started with Martin’s tears during the national anthem and ended with her waving to the crowd, away from the rest of the group, whose celebrations were subdued.Related
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Pakistan’s tournament is also over and they finish at the bottom of the points table, with a solitary win. Although the results do not reflect well on them, they ended an 18-match losing streak at World Cups, dating back to March 2009 when they beat West Indies in a rain-affected encounter, and competed well in patches throughout the competition. They also won hearts, thanks to the consistent presence of Bismah Maroof’s baby daughter Fatima, who delighted supporters and opposition alike.Baby Maroof had plenty to marvel at in this match, albeit mainly from New Zealand’s performance. Bates put on a dominant display of leg-side hitting with an array of sweeps, pulls and flicks, and scored 90 of her 126 runs on the on-side. She scored quickly, at a strike rate of 93.33, and formed half-century partnerships with Amelia Kerr and Brooke Halliday to lay a foundation for New Zealand to push for a big score, but her innings was not without its nervy moments.In the fifth over, Bates was given out lbw as she missed the flick off Diana Baig. With a second to spare on the DRS timer, she reviewed the decision and ball-tracking showed the delivery was going on to miss leg stump. Bates was on 17 at the time.She was the more attacking partner in her stand with Amelia Kerr and brought up her half-century off 54 balls with a sweep off Nashra Sandhu, but then needed to do a rebuilding job after a Nida Dar double-strike. In the space of three balls, Dar dismissed Kerr and Amy Sattherthwaite to put the brakes on. Pakistan conceded just 40 runs in the next 10 overs and gave away only two boundaries in that period and kept Maddy Green particularly quiet. She scored 18 runs off 40 balls when her fourth-wicket stand with Bates reached fifty and was on 23 when she Green was beaten by a Dar delivery that spun back in and bowled her.Bates’ century came up three balls later with a pull behind square off the 110th ball she faced. New Zealand entered the final 10 overs on 197 for 4, and in a good position to push for a total over 260. But, in the 43rd over, Bates was bowled, in the 46th Halliday followed and in the 47th there were twin run-outs. New Zealand lost 4 for 20 before Martin took it on herself to up the ante. New Zealand scored 32 in their last two overs to undo some of Pakistan’s strangling work at the end.Pakistan started their chase with authority and put on 39 in the first nine overs. Sidra Ameen and Muneeba Ali were confident against the short ball but were dismissed in successive overs to dent Pakistan’s start. Maroof and Onaima Sohail put on 26 for the third-wicket and scored slowly to drag Pakistan to the 19th over on 83 for 2 before Sohail was caught low at slip by Satterthwaite. That brought Dar to the crease and she capped off a good all-round performance with her 10th ODI half-century and put Pakistan back on track.Maroof and Dar put on 82 for the fourth-wicket, at a scoring rate of 5.23 and though the required run-rate had risen to over seven, they showed good signs of intent. All that changed when the Rowe show began.In the 35th over, Rowe’s fifth, she had Maroof caught down the leg side to start Pakistan’s slide. Two overs later, Aliya Riaz edged an attempted cut and Dar was bowled by an offcutter that dipped on her and took out off stump to all but end Pakistan’s chances of reaching the target. Rowe put the finishing touches on in the 41st over, when she bowled Sidra Nawaz with an inswinger and had Diana Baig caught at cover-point. She could have had a sixth wicket when Sandhu was given out lbw but reviewed and ball-tracking showed it was missing. Sandhu was not dismissed and Pakistan batted out their overs but ended well short.
