Phillips smashes maiden ODI ton to give NZ a winning start

Glenn Phillips starred with his maiden ODI hundred to power New Zealand to a winning start over the ODI tri-series hosts Pakistan in Lahore. In an exceptional display of death-overs hitting, Phillips accelerated from 26 off 38 balls to a 72-ball ton, propelling the visitors to a compelling 330/6 from their 50 overs. While Pakistan were behind the eight ball in the chase, Phillips also prised out destructive opener Fakhar Zaman to lend Pakistan the fatal blow as they collapsed to 252 in reply.

The foundation for New Zealand's winning score was set by half-centurions Daryl Mitchell and Kane Williamson, who joined hands in the eighth over to begin the repair work after losing the openers cheaply. Shaheen Afridi had struck in the opening over itself when Will Young nicked one behind. Abrar Ahmed then held on to a fine, low catch in his follow through to clip the wings of Rachin Ravindra, who made a quick 19-ball 25 with the help of five boundaries.

Not at his fluent best, Williamson had a couple of close shaves early in his innings, including getting a caught behind decision overturned on review. Mitchell, too, survived a run-out scare inside the first hour. However, together they put their side on the recovery path with a 95-run stand for the third wicket. From 60/2 at the drinks break after the 15th over, Mitchell took New Zealand past the 100 mark in the 21st over with a six downtown off Naseem Shah.

Williamson welcomed back Afridi into the attack with a four to reach his half-century but the bowler had his revenge in his subsequent over when he induced an outside edge for the 'keeper to break the stubborn stand. Tom Latham had to call for a DRS review on the second ball he faced to get the LBW decision reversed, but Haris Rauf had him caught at midwicket at the other end the very next delivery he faced. Rauf though walked off soon after with an injury scare, leaving Pakistan's bowling attack compromised.

Mitchell's 61-ball fifty arrived on the other side of the second drinks break, and he smoked a six over deep midwicket off Khushdil Shah to quickly bring up the half-century of his partnership with Phillps and then another off Abrar to bring up his team's 200. However, he flicked the very next delivery straight to Khushdil at midwicket to depart for an 84-ball 81.

Despite Mitchell's counterattacking knock, New Zealand looked to be settling for a middling total when the scoreboard read 208/5 after the 41st over. However, Phillips - batting on 26 off 29 balls then - decided to turn the tables on the hosts. Michael Bracewell provided the initial push - a four and a six off Khushdil - in the 14-run 42nd over, and Phillips took over from there on. Salman Agha got hit for a six by each of the two batters and Bracewell smoked his third one over long-off to welcome a returning Afridi. The pacer, though, had his instant revenge to end Bracewell's fireworks on 31.

Phillips reached his fifty off 55 balls, and then took the attack to Afridi and Naseem. He hit as many as five sixes - four of them off Afridi - in the last-three overs alone, making 47 off the 59 runs New Zealand plundered to post a daunting total on the board. Torn apart at death, Pakistan leaked 122 runs in the final-nine overs, of which 80 came from Phillips' bat as he finished unbeaten on 106.

Pakistan began on a solid note with a fifty opening partnership courtesy of Fakhar Zaman's aggressive ways. William O'Rourke especially proved expensive, leaking a couple of sixes and as many fours to the Pakistan opener who did the bulk of the damage in the 52-run stand with Babar Azam. The former skipper departed on the final ball of the powerplay as New Zeaalnd switched to spin early and Bracewell provided the much-needed breakthrough.

Having raced to a brisk 48-ball fifty, Zaman continued to hit those sixes down the ground but Mitchell Santner broke his 51-run partnership with Kamran Ghulam (18 off 32 balls) in his second over. Struggling to rotate the strike effectively, Ghulam tried to break free with an expansive shot and ended up holing out in the deep at the end of the 19th over to give Santner his first.

Santner struck again two overs later, trapping skipper Mohammad Rizwan LBW for 3 and reducing the hosts to 117/3 in the 23rd over. Rizwan burnt a review on his way back, and so did Zaman in the following over when he was caught plumb in front of the wickets by Phillips. The collapse of 3 for 16 left Pakistan's middle and lower order needing 211 more from the 26 overs left.

Yet another half-century partnership ensued, between Salman (40 off 51) and Tayyab Tahir (30 off 29), as Pakistan attempted to rebuild amidst conditions assisting spinners. Skipper Santner led from the front with his miserly middle-overs spell, leaving Pakistan with the tall ask of making 179 more at an asking rate of 9.35 in the last 17 overs. And right after the drinks break, Tahir pulled one straight to short midwicket where Bracewell took a sharp catch to help Matt Henry get on the board.

Henry picked his second and third in the form of fellow pacers Afridi and Naseem to finish with figures of 3 for 53 from his 10. But it wasn't before Santner and Bracewell struck on successive deliveries to take out the well-set Khushdil and Salman respectively just as Pakistan crossed the 200-run mark. Even though fighting a losing battle, Abrar hit a few boundaries at the fag end to delay the inevitable but ran out of partners with Rauf unavailable to bat.

Brief scores: New Zealand 330/6 in 50 overs (Glenn Phillips 106*, Daryl Mitchell 81, Kane Williamson 58; Shaheen Afridi 3-88, Abrar Ahmed 2-41) beat Pakistan 252 all out in 47.5 overs (Fakhar Zaman 84; Mitchell Santner 3-41, Matt Henry 3-53, Michael Bracewell 2-41) by 78 runs