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Ben Sears's second five-wicket haul on the trot inspired New Zealand to whitewash Pakistan with a 3-0 ODI series triumph, following their 43-run success in the third and final clash of the series at Bay Oval on Saturday.
In a 42-over-reduced game due to a wet outfield, Pakistan's pursuit of a 265-run target began with Imam-ul-Haq retiring hurt after taking a bouncer from William O'Rourke on his helmet. He instantly removed his helmet, holding his jaw. After a brief halt, he was eventually taken off the field, and Pakistan's premier batter, Babar Azam, arrived at the crease to carry the fight for his side. A 69-run partnership brewed between Babar and Abdullah Shafique as the duo flaunted their textbook strokeplay. Babar danced around the track to dispatch Michael Bracewell's flighted delivery past the boundary rope for a maximum. Sears, who effectively used the short ball ploy, broke the threatening partnership. Shafique (33) swivelled his hook without any timing straight down to Jacob Duffy. The floodgates opened, and Pakistan started losing scalps at regular intervals. Babar's 50 kept Pakistan's hopes high, but Daryl Mitchell set him up perfectly to scythe his scalp. Skipper Mohammad Rizwan (37) and Tayyab Tahir (33) resisted but gave away their wickets to Duffy. Sears cleaned up the middle and tail-end to force Pakistan to pack on 221, surrendering to a 43-run defeat. In a truncated ODI encounter, New Zealand tested their depth to blaze their way to a competitive 264/8 on the board. After being put to bat by Pakistan, Nick Kelly was the first to fall. Naseem Shah's delivery stopped and took a bit more flight than Kelly (3) would have anticipated. He went through his shot and sent the ball straight to Abdullah Shafique. Rhys Mariu, who made his debut in the second ODI, upped the ante and provided a sound start to the Kiwis despite the early setback. He forged a 78-run partnership with Henry Nicholls to drag the game away from Pakistan. With Pakistan on the cusp of conceding a 300-plus total, despite being a 42-over contest, Akif Javed forced the breakthrough against the run of play. Nicholls (32) holed out after giving away a top edge to Mohammad Wasim. Rhys (58), who had notched up his maiden fifty moments before Nicholls' dismissal for the Blackcaps in the ODIs, jumped on the bandwagon and returned to the dressing room after being pinned in front of the stumps by Sufiyan Muqeem. Daryl Mitchell (43) and Tim Seifert (26) kept the scoreboard ticking with their swift attacking displays. New Zealand's captain, Michael Bracewell, took the brunt on his shoulders and counterattacked with a fiery 59 from 40 deliveries to power the hosts to a 264/8. (ANI)
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