After brilliant performance by Kiwis vice captain Pakistan has lost the match by 110 runs.

Kiwi Captain was injured and he was left from the ground to the hospital for inspection of his leg. He was injured after a dive to stop the ball going to boundary. Taylor took the captaincy and took his team to famous victory on his birthday.

New Zealand opted to bat first after winning the toss. They scored runs freely in the last over. LRPL Taylor batted well and he scored brilliant century. He batted well and sensibly. At the end of the inning he swing his bat freely and runs floated towards the Kiwis.

Pakistani bowlers were scored heavily at the end of the inning.  Shoaib Akhtar went for 70 runs in his 9 over. Abdul Razzak was scored 49 runs in his four over. The start of the Pakistan batting was bad and too many early wickets end the balance of the game and it was turned into one sided match. Razzak was the top scorer with his 62 runs. Umer Gul remained not out on 34 runs.

New Zealand won the first match with 9 wickets in hand. Pakistan team is also playing with world cup captain in their mind. The decision of three Pakistani players is also pending and it will be announced on 5th February. It will be difficult for the team to play well. Sahid Afridi is currently captaining the Pakistani side but so far he is not announced as Pakistani captain for the world cup 2011.

Pakistani Squad for the 2nd ODI against Kiwis includes Shahid Afridi , Misbah-ul-Haq, Abdul Razzaq, Abdur Rehman, Ahmed Shehzad, Asad Shafiq, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Sohail Tanvir, Tanvir Ahmed, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz and Younis Khan.

Kiwis Squad for the 2nd ODI against Pakistan includes DL Vettori, HK Bennett, JEC Franklin, MJ Guptill, JM How, BB McCullum†, NL McCullum, JDP Oram, JD Ryder, TG Southee, SB Styris and LRPL Taylor.

BB McCullum was the first to get out. He went out in the first over and provided Pakistan a break through. Guptill scored 29 runs while KS Williamson went out on 21 runs. LRPL Taylor scored runs for the team and he also completed his half century and was dismissed by Wahab Riaz on 78 runs.

RA Young and DL Vettori are two not out batsmen and they had scored 66 runs together. At the end of the day Kiwis has lost six wickets and they scored 246 runs. Umer Gul and Tanvir Ahmed took 2 wickets each. They performed very well for Pakistan. Wahab Riaz and Abdur Rahman took 1 wicket each.

The day belongs to Pakistani bowlers as they didn’t allow the batsmen to score runs freely and also took wickets. Pakistan is leading the 2 match series 1-0. Misbah Ul Haq already said that they want to win the series 2-0 rather then 1-0.

Pakistan made two changes – Mhammad Sami and Abdur Rehman replaced Mohammad Asif and Fawad Alam.

New Zealand also made two changes – Ian Buttler and Kyle Mills came in for Tim Southee and Jacob Oram.

Teams
Pakistan: Salman Butt, Kamran Akmal (wk), Mohammad Hafeez, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi (captain), Misbah-ul-Haq, Abdul Razzaq, Abdul Rehman, Mohammad Aamer, Mohamamd Sami, Saeed Ajmal.

New Zealand: Brendon McCullum, Jesse Ryder, Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Scott Styris, Gareth Hopkins (wk), Ian Buttler, Daniel Vettori (captain), Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Shane Bond.

Having lost to Australia by 34 runs in the first round, Pakistan fumbled against England in the Super Eights match on Thursday, and lost by six wickets with batting and fielding performance letting them down badly.

Meanwhile, New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori gave his side a stark warning to improve their performance against Pakistan  in the crucial Super Eights clash here on Saturday or forget about reaching the semi-finals of the World Twenty20.

The Black Caps suffered their first loss of this tournament when they began the Super Eights with a 13-run loss to South Africa that was more comprehensive than the result suggests.

Having previously defeated Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in the group phase, Vettori’s men will now probably need to beat both defending champions Pakistan and England if they are to reach the last four.

Shahid Afridi won the toss in this second and final match and his side batted first. The openers put on 40 in 4.3 overs before last match hero Imran Nazir got bowled by Butler for a 12-ball 19. Butler then went on to remove Kamran Akmal (26 from 22) just a couple of overs after Nazir’s wicket. Pakistan fought back after this phase through Umar Akmal and Shahid Afridi. The Pakistan Skipper came up with a 17-ball 22 while Umar Akmal stayed right till the end with an unbeaten 56 from 49 balls with 5 fours and a six. The youngster also picked up the Man of the Match for this responsible knock. Butler did well for the Kiwis taking 3 for 28.

The Kiwis were off to a dull start with 46 for 2 on the board in 8.1 overs. Skipper Brendon McCullum restrained himself from playing the flashy innings and tried to guide New Zealand through to victory. But he fell in the penultimate over with still 22 needed to win from 10 balls. McCullum scored 47 from 41 balls with 3 fours and a six. Scott Styris chipped in with 43 from 33 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes but couldn’t finish the game in New Zealand’s favour. The Kiwis finished at a pale 146 for 5. The Pakistani Captain Shahid Afridi was named as the Player of the Series.

The Black Caps were a weakened unit going into this match with Skipper Daniel Vettori opting out because of showing the after effects of taking a blow around his ear from a Mohammad Aamer bouncer in the 2nd ODI. The New Zealanders did well to keep Pakistan down to 56 for 2 in 8 overs after removing the Akmal Brothers cheaply. Imran Nazir at one end was doing all the damage with his crisp hitting but the opener couldn’t go beyond a 38-ball 58 (with 5 fours and 4 sixes). Skipper Shahid Afridi clouted a six over long on but his innings was just a cameo with 24 from 16 balls. Apart from Nazir and Afridi, there weren’t any scores coming in from the rest of the batsmen.

Pakistan had a good couple of last overs thanks to Razzaq (26* from 15 balls) and Sohail Tanvir (12 from 8 balls). Shane Bond was the pick of the bowlers giving away just 17 besides taking two wickets in his 4 overs. Aaron Redmond with his flighted leg breaks took the important wickets of Afridi and Malik but in the course also strained his groin.

After a sorry first over that went for 17 runs, Mohammad Aamer along with Sohali Tanvir struck back to make inroads for Pakistan. The inform Brendon McCullum who was leading the side got out square driving after a 13-ball 19 and was followed by Ross Taylor who got out to another loose cut shot. Pakistan kept on getting wickets regularly and the job for the spinners became too easy. The Kiwis were bowled out for 112 in 18.3 overs with regular opener Aaron Redmond not coming to bat at all. Imran Nazir got the Man of the Match award. The second and final T20I is tonight at this same venue.

Pakistan will be led by Shahid Afridi and they have three fresh players in Imran Nazir, Fawad Alam and Sohail Tanvir. New Zealand have some injury worries and will go into the match without Jacob Oram, Kyle Mills and James Franklin.

The match is at 20:00 local or 16:00 GMT and the second and final T20I is at the same time tomorrow.

New Zealand won a crucial toss and elected to bat first. They were setting themselves nicely for the 300-mark after a lovely opening start of 72 in 11.3 overs. Redmond’s slash at thirdman finally got some smiles in the Pakistani fielders. Off spinner Saeed Ajmal made it 88 for 2 when he forced a leading edge from Martin Guptill in the 17th over. It was the turn of the Kiwis to fight back and they did it through a 50-run stand between Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor. Shoaib Malik broke the partnership when he got a return catch from the dangerous McCullum (76 from 78 balls with 6 fours and 3 sixes).

Pakistan were red hot in the middle overs with the spin trio of Ajmal, Afridi and Malik bowling plenty of dot balls to pile up the pressure on the Kiwis. The batsmen too were not good enough to get their bats down on time to block some deadly quicker ones. New Zealand out of nowhere, from 138 for 3 slipped to 198 for 9. They finished with a disappointing 211 all out in 46.3 overs. Ross Taylor scored 44 from 69 before he played across the line to get lbw to Ajmal. Broom was lbw to a skidding googly from Afridi. Skipper Vettori and Jacob Oram were both lbw to Ajmal’s quick skidding deliveries that came back with the arm. Saeed Ajmal bowled a magic spell indeed with 4 for 33 in his 10 overs. Shoaib Malik did a good job along with Afridi at a time when Ajmal left the field due to cramps.

Pakistan got off to a solid start, with 47 on the board in over 8 overs. Vettori had to bring himself in early and he provided the opening by striking the pad of Khalid Latif (19). In the 11th over, an out-of-form and a totally nervous Younis Khan ran out a well set Salman Butt (25). A ball later, the Pakistani Captain got dismissed for 3 from 16 balls after edging an away going one off Bond. Pakistan were now on the backfoot at 51 for 3 and the Kiwis were smart enough to control the match after this.

A series of short balls brought the wicket of Shoaib Malik which was followed up with three big wickets that of Umar Akmal (edging a cut shot), Shahid Afridi (edging a booming drive on the up) and Kamran Akmal (playing a horrendous pull shot). The last hope – Abdul Razzaq was run out and Pakistan were embarassed at 86 for 8. The Black Caps had to wait about 10 overs before they could get rid off Umar Gul off a pick up shot to deep mid wicket.

The match did not finish quickly as expected as the 10th wicket pair of Aamer and Ajmal could succeed in prolonging it further and further. Aamer started a possible fightback with three slog sweeps for three sixes off Vettori. The left hander never looked in trouble and even played a glorious inside out cover drive off Shane Bond. Along with Ajmal, he brought the target down unknowingly and moments later, Pakistan were nervously inching towards a victory with just 13 more needed to win from the final two overs. Aamer was confident having got past a maiden ODI fifty but his partner Ajmal left him down in the end after hooking in the air to fine leg in the first ball of the last over with Pakistan needing 8 runs to win off 6 balls.

Saeed Ajmal was dismissed for 33 (from 44 balls with 2 fours) while his partner Mohammad Aamer was the hero with an unbeaten 73 from 81 balls with 7 fours and 3 sixes. They almost robbed what could have been a famous victory for Pakistan in the end and leaving Vettori furious. For New Zealand, the best bowler was Jacob Oram with 3 for 20 in 9.1 overs but the opening in the match was certainly given by Vettori and Bond. Aamer got the Man of the Match for his all-round efforts while Brendon McCullum was given the Player of the Series.

Surprisingly, the Skipper himself – Younis Khan has been the culprit so far in both the matches. In the first match, he got out playing a reckless drive when Pakistan didn’t even open its account and in the second game, he never took any risks that were needed with the required run rate climbing up beyond the middle order’s reach. Younis will have to lead the team from the front and with Afridi being consistently successful, it looks like a lot of pressure is mounting on the present Pakistan Captain. Younis performs under pressure, one knock which proves is a century against India in the Kitply Cup Final when his team was chasing 300 plus target. So Pakistan can pin their hopes on him to come good in today’s third and final ODI.

The Kiwis will be hoping to win the toss and bat again. Not sure if Brendon McCullum can strike gold twice so its important for someone like Ross Taylor to play to his potential. The young man is a class act but is not that mature enough to bring out the best from himself on a consistent basis. I guess just occupying the crease should be enough for this talented Ross Taylor. With the kind of shots he has got, a slow start can always be converted into a run-a-ball knock within no time.

Another player who is having a certain problem is Salman Butt. His temperament is surely proved after a century in front of a 100,000 people in Kolkata against India a few years back. Butt is a good player to watch because of his unique wristy drives on the off side. The left hander has plenty of problems, he has done enough damage I suppose for Pakistan with his slow batting. If I remember he was instrumental in Pakistan’s loss in the T20 World Cup final against India in 2007 because of playing too many dot balls. Well the same had happened in the second ODI as well, so Butt has got to change his game plan slightly. He needs to show the urgency in his batting so that the middle order batsmen do not get burdened of scoring runs quickly all the time. I have this gut feeling that in an ODI, Pakistan should not have two specialist openers. They should have atleast one opener who can do the demolishing act during the 1st powerplay when the ball is coming onto the wicket.

Pakistan seriously needs to tinker with its top order. It will be good if either Kamran Akmal or Shoaib Malik open the innings. The second ODI saw lot of six hitters including Mohammad Yousuf getting wasted under the pressure of achieving the tough task of getting about 160 runs in the last 20 overs. And again, Umar Akmal is needed for Pakistan, it was shocking to see him sit on the bench in the last ODI. Either Khalid Latif or Salman Butt should be dropped for this decider to make way for Umar Akmal.

Well to round off, Pakistan’s chances of a win today is more when they bat first, get about 250 and leave the rest to their bowling. New Zealand’s chances are by batting first too but they would need 300 like in the last game. Their fielding will make sure that Pakistan will have to chase that extra 20-30 runs always.