Black Caps crash to heavy defeat

AP

THAT'S OUT: Black Caps batsman Brendon McCullum is bowled by Pakistan's Umar Gul during the first one-day international between the two sides in Abu Dhabi.

AP

MAN OF THE MATCH: Pakistan's Shahid Afridi on the drive during his fine all-round match performance that helped his side to a big win over New Zealand in the first ODI at Abu Dhabi.

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All rounder Shahid Afridi smashed a rapid 70 and took two wickets for Pakistan who cruised to a 138-run victory over New Zealand in the first one-day international.

 "(Afridi) is a fantastic performer," Pakistan captain Younus Khan told reporters.

"The last couple of years he worked well with the bowling but now his batting is there so it's good for Pakistan," he said.

Pakistan, who won the toss and opted to bat first, recovered from an awful start to pile up 287 for nine.

Fast bowler Shane Bond dismissed opener Salman Butt and Younus without a run on the board before Mohammad Yousuf, who was dropped on 12, and Khalid Latif steadied the innings with a stand of 57.

Yousuf was run out for 30 but after Umar Akmal was dismissed for nine, Latif (64) and Afridi added 101 for the fifth wicket.

After Afridi departed Kamran Akmal chipped in with an unbeaten 67, including four sixes, to lead Pakistan to an imposing total.

New Zealand opener Brendan McCullum was dropped twice before fast bowler Umar Gul bowled him for 21 and Gul struck again moments later dismissing Martin Guptill for four.

Ross Taylor and Scott Styris also fell cheaply to leave New Zealand struggling on 50 for four. Aaron Redmond (52) and Daniel Vettori (38) added 69 for the fifth wicket but their hopes of victory were quickly extinguished when Afridi took two wickets in two balls and with the tail enders offering little resistance, New Zealand crumbled to 149 all out.

The second game in the three-match series is also in Abu Dhabi tomorrow night (NZ time).

The series is being played at neutral venues after New Zealand refused to tour Pakistan this year because of security concerns. Their test series will be played in New Zealand from November 24 but designated 'home' tests for Pakistan.

"Although we have a lot of supporters in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, we still need to play some games in Pakistan. I hope that we'll soon play again in Pakistan," Younus said.

SCOREBOARD:

PAKISTAN
S Butt c B.McCullum b Bond 0 (4)
K Latif b Vettori 64 (112)
Y Khan c B.McCullum b Bond 0 (3)
M Yousuf run out 30 (49)
U Akmal b Vettori 9 (18)
S Afridi c Butler b Oram 70 (50)
K Akmal not out 67(43)
A Razzaq c Styris b Butler 26 (20)
U Gul run out 0(1)
M Aamer c B.McCullum b Southee    0(1)
S Ajmal not out 0 (1)
Extras 21

Total (9wkts, 50 overs) 287

Fall: 1/0, 2/0, 3/57, 4/75, 5/176, 6/184, 7/270, 8/271, 9/277.

Bowling: S Bond 10-2-61-2, T Southee 10-2-54-1, I Butler 7-0-54-1, J Oram 10-0-47-1, D Vettori 10-1-34-2, N McCullum 3-0-29-0.

NEW ZEALAND
B McCullum b Gul 21 (27)
A Redmond lbw Ajmal 52 (91)
M Guptill b Gul 4 (9)
R Taylor c K Akmal b Aamer 0 (5)
S Styris c sub b Razzaq 5 (17)
D Vettori b Afridi 38 (41)
J Oram b Razzaq 9 (23)
N McCullum lbw Afridi 0 (1)
I Butler run out 4 (7)
S Bond not out 4 (9)
T Southee lbw Ajmal 1 (7)
Extras                         11

Total (39.2 overs) 149

Fall: 1/30, 2/34, 3/35, 4/50, 5/119, 6/139, 7/139, 8/139, 9/144, 10/149.

Bowling: M Aamer 7-1-15-1, U Gul 6-3-24-2, A Razzaq 9-1-38-2, S Afridi 10-0-46-2, S Ajmal 7.2-0-18-2.

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Paul   #18   06:56 pm Nov 04 2009

Hey Dan, Jake, Brendon...I hear on the quiet that Coach Robbie might be looking for a job soon ...you guys interested?

Big Jake   #17   01:37 pm Nov 04 2009

If there had been money on it I would have played better!

Flem   #16   01:18 pm Nov 04 2009

Bring back Bracewell - all's forgiven.

MG   #15   01:07 pm Nov 04 2009

geez you would think these moaners would of put up a huge effort after player power ousting the coach after being runners up to the best team in the world at the champions trophy.

whos fault was this disgraceful effort? our cricketers are all a bunch of whining, blaming, money makers that under perform every excuse they get.

wonder if the black caps can man up from here and actually show us why moles was apparently holding them back. if they concentrated on their own job we wouldn't be so low on the cricket rankings.

prove us different black caps

Gino   #14   12:36 pm Nov 04 2009

Ha haha ha ha ha h ha hahahahahaaaha The JOKE that is NZ Cricket continues... no need for a coach the senior players have it all under control... ha ha haha ha ahhahahahahahaahahaahahaha, please do us afavour and stop reporting what they are up to, nobody cares anymore.

straw   #13   11:59 am Nov 04 2009

These comments so far are a joke. Most of what I read here is broad uninformed vitriol that belongs on talkback radio.

That said, our lack of good alternatives to Mills and Tuffey was shown up again, as was our lack of a good second spinner, as was Taylor's continuing poor form in ODIs. Plus the team composition was not right with too many bowlers and not enough batsmen. They'll need to patch things up fast to win even one of the next two ODIs. Mills coming back for the next match will help a lot.

harry smith   #12   11:46 am Nov 04 2009

its proven that its not the coach, but the players not standing up and taking owernship for their performances! coaches give tools to succeed. we are wrapped up in the coaches fault!... why dont we blame the players, they have been playing inconsistant for a while now, so everytime SENIOR players dont like a coach we get rid of them... why not get stand some of the players down.. how about that... we have lost the passion!!!!

Iain   #11   11:27 am Nov 04 2009

Not sure why people are complaining. We do pretty well with our player base. The problem is a mindset. We have some cricketers with great talent that are so much better than the rest of the domestic competition they don't have to really apply themselves. Once they reach international level, they still have the talent, but have to apply themselves - which they don't know how to do. DV is an exception. Possibly this is due to his back injury so he has had to work really hard and adjust his bowling action to compensate. Bring on a Steve Rixon type that can make the players work hard and they can't really complain that he isn't fair or talented enough. Look at the change he made to the Black Caps when he was the coach of a young side eager to learn.

Dave   #10   11:25 am Nov 04 2009

Predictably unpredictable.. So the fantastic form continues eh?

paki boy   #9   11:22 am Nov 04 2009

Frankly speaking you need more of taylors and ryders now - still playing with oram and styris will take you nowhere.

Apart from that Bowling start was great - but its only afridi who can turn the tables this way.

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