NELSON: They might be the current Champions Trophy holders, but over the last two years, Pakistan have conceded the highest score in the format’s history – 444 at Edgbaston. Today, in Dunedin, they came perilously close to posting the lowest ODI score; it was very much on the cards when they reeled at 32 for 8. In a batting performance so listless that even New Zealand appeared to be embarrassed by the ease with which Pakistan’s innings crumbled, the home side rubberstamped their superiority by bowling Pakistan out for 74, winning by a mammoth 183 runs.
Any semblance of a contest was blown to pieces by a sensational opening spell from Trent Boult, who made a mockery of the notion that it was a slow pitch on which bounce was difficult to extract. Azhar Ali was the first to fall. Granted a life two balls earlier, when Santner dropped one at cover, Azhar poked at one outside the off stump and gave first slip a straightforward grab.
Fakhar Zaman had been trying to cut Boult for much of an innings that was destined to be ephemeral. He eventually dragged on. With Hafeez then edging a catch to Ross Taylor at first slip, the contest was over, but the potential for humiliation had only just begun.
The records began to tumble; only on three other occasions since 2006 had a side made less than ten runs in the first Powerplay (Pakistan made 9 for 3 today); only once before had Pakistan lost six wickets for fewer than the 16 they managed today.
Suddenly, the lowest-ever ODI total – 35 – began to be threatened, as batsmen came – each appearing as clueless, as amateur as the last – and met the same fate. Agencies
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