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Despite finishing the World Cup with back-to-back five-wicket hauls, Mustafizur Rahman is focused on improving his accuracy to become a more consistent bowler at the death. He claimed 5 for 75 against Pakistan, to follow his 5 for 59 against India, and ended the tournament with 20 wickets at 24.20 but among bowlers who have taken at least 15 wickets, he conceded the highest runs per over.After the Pakistan match, Mustafizur sat second to Mitchell Starc’s 24 wickets in eight matches, although Starc, Jofra Archer, Lockie Ferguson and Mark Wood would have more opportunities to get past him in the rest of the competition.WATCH on Hotstar (India only): Mustafizur’s five-wicket haulSignificantly, he has not taken a single wicket in the first 30 overs of a game, having taken all of his wickets in the last 20 overs; 12 have come in the last five overs, in which he has taken a wicket in this World Cup every 8.08 balls. Mustafizur said that he wants to further work on his yorkers and sees playing more T20s as an opportunity to hone that skill.”You always remember five-wicket hauls, especially if it comes during a World Cup,” Mustafizur said. “The one against India was definitely a special one, and while everyone said that I have been able to prove myself at the big stage, I think I could have done a lot better. I think I need to improve on my variations. I have a cutter but my yorker is 50/50. I want to improve the accuracy of my yorker, particularly for the death overs. I think playing more T20s will help accuracy while bowling in the last ten overs of a one-day game.”Among the bowlers in the World Cup, Ferguson, Archer, Sheldon Cottrell, Lasith Malinga and Mohammad Amir are the top five wicket-takers in the first 20 overs, but Mustafizur is head and shoulders above the rest in the last 10 overs, in which he averages 12.73 for his 15 wickets, and has taken a wicket every 10 balls, although Starc’s nine wickets in the final ten have come at just 7.77ALSO READ: Bowling and fielding a massive letdown – MashrafeSince his debut in 2015 he has the second most wickets (48) in the last 10 overs of an ODI innings, second only to Jasprit Bumrah, and better than Rashid Khan. But it is a huge contrast in the first 20 overs where he averages 41.33, and it has developed into a situation where Bangladesh have lacked wickets in this phase throughout the World Cup, in which Mashrafe Mortaza, their main wicket-taker with the new ball in the last two decades, have also struggled for form.Mustafizur said that he is comfortable bowling in the first 20 overs of the innings although he doesn’t see himself as an out-and-out pace bowler, but a slightly different variation of it. “I am ready to bowl at any stage in the match. I am a slightly different pace bowler. I average about 135kph, so I am not that quick. I am happy with my speed but I should be able to add a few more variations to my bowling.”

Mitchell Starc said that he believed that the best of Australia’s World Cup cricket is still to come, after making it two wins out of two with a hard-fought 15-run win over West Indies at Trent Bridge.Starc himself delivered the coup de grace, claiming the first five-wicket haul of the tournament to derail West Indies’ pursuit of 289, but deflected the praise for the victory to his team-mate Nathan Coulter-Nile, whose remarkable career-best score of 92 from 60 balls helped rescue the side from 79 for 5.”It’s exciting that we haven’t probably played awesome cricket today,” said Starc. “We’ve probably played some really good cricket in patches, but there’s definitely things we can get a lot better at in all three facets, so that’s exciting for the group.ALSO READ: Mitchell Starc strips away the resistance as Australia revive their fear factor“Finding ways to win and being five for not many and seeing Coults strike them the way he did was fantastic for him and for the group, to get us to a competitive total that we felt pretty confident in defending. Yeah, plenty of positives to take from today.”In sealing the win, Starc became the fastest bowler in ODI history to reach 150 wickets, achieving the mark in his 77th game to surpass the previous record held by Pakistan’s Saqlain Mushtaq. And in nailing his yorkers to unsettle West Indies’ batsmen, it was a timely reprisal of the Player-of-the-Tournament form he showed when Australia won the last World Cup on home soil in 2015.”I’ve been pretty clear and calm in my approach to cricket in the last few months, and hopefully that’s a sign today that even when it’s probably in the balance, I can stay calm,” he said.”Yeah, I guess having that experience of four years ago probably helps play a part, but we’ve got guys that can bowl throughout an innings and bowl at the death, plenty of options for Aaron [Finch] to go to when called upon. It was another positive today for us to be able to defend that total, but obviously we had to get there with Coults first, which was fantastic.””It’s something I enjoy doing, bowling at the death,” he added. “You’re not going to win them all, and there’s going to be times where you go the journey or where you don’t quite get your team over the line. But I think that’s what I enjoy about the challenge of that.Watch on Hotstar (India only) – Mitchell Starc’s five-wicket haul“I guess the yorker, for me, is one [delivery] I’ve probably gone to more often than not in the past. So whilst they’ll know it’s coming, as long as I keep executing it, hopefully it’s going to be better for me than them.”Australia’s next challenge will come at The Oval on Sunday, when they take on another of the tournament’s big guns, India, who are also unbeaten after seeing off South Africa in their opening fixture at Southampton on Wednesday.Starc missed the 3-2 series win in India in March, and claimed not to have watched it on telly while recovering from a pectoral muscle injury. But he said he was looking forward to the challenge of bowling to their aggressive batting line-up.”As a bowling group, for us to continue talking about what we do really well and what we can control. We know they’re a fantastic team. They’ve got depth in their batting, they’re strong throughout.”Virat [Kohli] is obviously one of their key batsmen. Rohit [Sharma] scored a hundred [against South Africa], so we’ll have a chat about them as a bowling group, but at the same time we’ve got to remember what we can control, and that’s our strengths and where we want to bowl to the conditions, as well.”Starc will enter that contest knowing that he has already got the better of one of the most powerful batting line-ups in the competition, even if in the case of Chris Gayle, the delivery with which he finally claimed his wicket ought to have been a free-hit after a previous no-ball went uncalled.”I didn’t until about five minutes ago when someone told me,” said Starc. “I’m normally pretty close [to the front line], and I’ve actually been a fair way back for the last few weeks. I got away with that one, fortunately.”I’ve had some good battles with Chris over the years, and he’s obviously a major weapon for them, and we just saw a little glimpse of it today, how strong he can be when he strikes that ball.”He’s so strong, and I guess he finds the gap hitting over the top, doesn’t he? We knew that going into this contest that they’re going to have a few really big strikers and lots of boundaries, which he’s one of, but we were very fortunate to get him early enough to put them on the back foot again with the new ball.”

Hamish Rutherford made a hundred on his List A debut for Worcestershire and Daryl Mitchell stroked his fourth century in seven innings against Lancashire as the 2018 semi-finalists got this year’s campaign off to a fine start with a convincing 125-run victory at Emirates Old Trafford.The Rapids, who have topped the North Group in this competition in each of the past two seasons, confirmed their status as one of the most powerful white-ball sides in the country by making 367 all out in 49.1 overs. In reply, Lancashire, wearing a new blue strip and rebranded as Lancashire Cricket, made 242 all out in 40.4 overs. At no point in their innings did Dane Vilas’ batsmen seem likely to reach their target.By contrast, Rutherford confidently reached his century off 90 balls with a swept six off Glenn Maxwell and had hit ten fours and three sixes in his 108 by the time he drove Matt Parkinson to Vilas at extra cover. That ended the New Zealander’s 182-run third-wicket stand with Mitchell but he had dominated Lancashire attack from the first few overs of the match, putting on 106 in 12.4 overs with fellow-opener Riki Wessels, who made 72 off 45 balls before lofting legspinner Parkinson to James Anderson at long-off.Parkinson was, beyond serious dispute, the pick of Lancashire’s attack. In addition to the scalps of Wessels and Rutherford, he deceived Mitchell in the flight to have the former Worcestershire skipper stumped by Brooke Guest for 101 and then took two tail-end wickets in his final over to finish with career-best List A figures of 5 for 51. Worcestershire lost their last four wickets for two runs in seven balls.Some of the home side’s bowling figures were a grisly sight. Maxwell finished with 2 for 82 from his ten overs and Saqib Mahmood took 2 for 59 off eight. James Anderson conceded 59 runs in eight wicketless overs but was unlucky to have Mitchell dropped by Guest on 26 when the keeper grassed a straightforward chance standing back.Lancashire’s pursuit of 368 began poorly when Haseeb Hameed was caught at slip by Mitchell off Charlie Morris in the fourth over for only 5 but Keaton Jennings and Guest then stabilised the innings with a stand of 75 in 14 overs.However, Lancashire’s batsmen were never allowed to dominate the bowling as their opponents had done and Jennings’ dismissal, caught by Rutherford at short fine leg off Wayne Parnell for 54, was the first of a steady stream of dismissals, each of which reinforced Worcestershire’s dominance.Maxwell hit three sixes and two fours in a 21-ball 35 but his was the only uninhibited aggression offered by the home batsmen and the innings declined rapidly from 181 for 4 in the 32nd over to 191 for 8 in the 35th. Mitchell took two of those wickets as did Parnell and Josh Tongue, but this was a triumph for a seven-man Worcestershire attack which knew its business facing Lancashire batsmen who could not match the visitors’ craft.

Adelaide Strikers v Perth Scorchers, BBL, Adelaide: lbw b Laughlin7.2 LBW! Two in three balls! This was 132kph, full and straight, he was caught on the crease, maybe thinking a slower ball was coming, he was hit on the knee roll infront of middle and it wasn’t a tough decision. That was plumb.India v Australia, 1st T20I, Visakhapatnam: b K Pandya16.2 96.6 kph, and they are only going to get louder! Is there a way back for India still? Turner shuffles across and looks to sweep him fine, not the best idea against a wicket-to-wicket bowler like Krunal, and he is cleaned upKings XI Punjab v Rajasthan Royals, IPL, Mohali: c Miller b M Ashwin16.3 duck on IPL debut! This, strangely enough, is a slow, tossed up legbreak, possibly because Ashwin thinks he can bait the big hitter into a false shot. And bait him he does. The equation makes Turner go for it. The turn on the ball makes the shot go to long-off when he is looking to go dead straight. Miller runs in and takes the catch and Royals are in a mess againRajasthan Royals v Mumbai Indians, IPL, Jaipur: lbw Bumrah18.1 make that 0, 0, 0, 0. Bumrah’s deadly inward angle and skiddiness does in another batsman. Turner’s front leg moves half-forward and across the stumps, and he ends up playing around his front pad looking to work it into the leg side. The angle beats his inside edge, and it’s the plumblest of lbw decisions thereafterRajasthan Royals v Delhi Capitals, IPL, Jaipur: c Rutherford b Ishant16.4 GONE AGAIN! Slower ball, outside off, and he was looking to get towards covers, but just popped it up towards Rutherford at cover. Third golden duck in a row! Somewhere, you just know Ajit Agarkar is watching and smiling

In 2015, Nathan Lyon was left out of Australia’s World Cup squad in favour of left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty. Overall, he has played a mere 18 ODIs since his debut in the format in 2012. The other spinners who were part of that game – Doherty himself and Rangana Herath – have both retired from cricket, but Lyon’s ODI career is only beginning to take shape in the lead-up to the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales.Both on this tour in India and then in the UAE, Australia might break away from the old tradition at times and play two frontline spinners in Lyon and legspinner Adam Zampa – they did in the second ODI in Nagpur. This means Lyon could be in for the most sustained period of ODI cricket in his career. He’s among the best spinners – if not the best – in Test cricket already, but have seasons in the wilderness in white-ball cricket got to him?”No, not really, I’m really enjoying playing white-ball cricket and being back in coloured clothing for Australia,” Lyon said on the eve of the third ODI against India in Ranchi. “For me, it’s about enjoying the challenge and try to get better in the shorter format. I’m always about learning every time I go out to bowl. There is added pressure, I guess, but none I’m putting on myself. I’m just looking forward to doing my best for the Australian cricket team.”Australia tested India in the first two ODIs, but they couldn’t quite close those matches out. Marcus Stoinis, in particular, was visibly broken after tripping at the final hurdle in Nagpur. Despite Australia finishing at the wrong end of the results, Lyon stressed that all was well within the management and backed his side to turn the tables on India.”It was disappointing to lose and not get across the line against India in their home conditions,” he said. “They have some superstars. They have a legend like MS Dhoni still running around and controlling the back-end of the innings through the tempo. Then, there is Virat Kohli, who in my eyes is one of the greatest players to play in my era.”They are a superstar unit and we are young side that is learning. We are getting better and looking forward to the challenges. There is a lot of belief in our team and this series isn’t over yet. We believe we can still win the series. It’s going to be a challenge up against one of the best sides in the world in their backyard, but it’s exciting and we are looking forward to it.”Lyon’s USP is his ability to generate extra bounce and overspin, but the skiddier pitches in India have somewhat neutered his threat. However, he believes that his variations in pace will still hold him in good stead.”I still believe bounce is a massive weapon,” he said. “Having the ability to change up variations, pace and mindset, depending on who I’m bowling to… Personally, I’m trying to read the game; what’s going to happen in the game, and control that moment. Bounce is still an important factor for me, if I can hit the stickers on the bat and hopefully those catches will go to the hand and not into the stands. It’s a good challenge and it’s something I’m excited about.”The wristspinners are dictating terms in limited-overs cricket – Zampa has been Australia’s first-choice pick in recent times – but Lyon believes that a fingerspinner will round out the attack nicely. He had bowled constricting lines and lengths in Nagpur and came away with 1 for 42 in his ten overs.”Obviously, the wristspinners are a valuable part to any side, and I’m working on a couple of different variations to keep up with the game,” he said. “The game is moving so fast, and it’s a great opportunity for everyone to learn. But it’s pretty important to have the balance of a couple of good spinners in your side. You look at India, Kuldeep Yadav’s skills are unbelievable and [Ravindra] Jadeja has been quite impressive as well. I think it’s important for any international side to have a couple of decent spinners going into the World Cup.”S Sriram, the former India spinner and Australia’s spin consultant, has been a prominent figure in the visitors’ training sessions, often feeding the sweep shot for Stoinis or instructing Lyon and Zampa to attack the stumps.”Obviously, he [Sriram] knows these conditions inside-out and has passed on some great knowledge about the Indian batsmen and how they go about their business,” Lyon said. “So, to have inside knowledge like Sri has been absolutely exceptional for the batters as well as bowlers – whether fast bowling or spin bowling.”Personally, I’ve enjoyed talking with him about variations and whether you defend or attack a batsman. He has been great personally for my mindset.”Lyon insisted “Australia have been training the house down” on this tour. They now need to put their preparations to good use if they are to save the series in Ranchi.

The dismissal of Rory Burns from the first delivery of day three in St Lucia may have been a particularly unpleasant shock for England’s bowlers.That’s because the three specialist seamers, James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Mark Wood, had been given a couple of hours off at the start of the day. With many players having their families with them at present, they were given the chance to get up a little later, take a more leisurely breakfast, and enjoy some down time before reporting for duty.While it is not an unusual policy – squad members not involved in the playing XI are routinely given days away from the ground on a rotational basis and the fast bowlers, in particular, are sometimes given a late start after a day’s bowling – it is, perhaps, a little surprising in the context of this tour.England have not reached 300 in the series – this is their sixth and final innings – and have twice been bowled out in roughly the length of a session, losing all 10 wickets in 21.3 overs in Barbados, and 30.1 in Antigua.However, with England’s team hotel little more than 10 minutes from the ground in St Lucia, and the players in close contact with the action, they can be recalled quickly as required. And having helped dismiss West Indies cheaply on day two, led by Wood’s maiden Test five-for, you might say they had earned a rest while their batting colleagues attempted to build on a 142-run overnight lead.England are, after all, embarking on a year of great significance, with the World Cup and Ashes to come. With the series in the Caribbean already lost, some thoughtful man-management may bear fruit down the line.

A record-breaking partnership between Josh Philippe and James Vince led the Sydney Sixers to a thumping win over BBL leaders Hobart Hurricanes at the SCG.Philippe, the 21-year-old tyro, and Vince, the wily English pro, broke all manner of records as they mowed down a target of 173 with nine wickets and 17 balls to spare.The pair came together at 1 for 6 in the first over and put on an unbroken 167 in just 16.3 overs. It was a new record partnership for Sixers franchise, the fourth highest in BBL history and the highest second-wicket stand in the eight years of the competition. Philippe, whose previous best in T20s was 30 not out, batted through the chase, making 86 not out from just 49 balls with nine fours and three sixes. Meanwhile, Vince made 74 not out, his second straight score of 70-plus.Earlier, the Hurricanes’ total of 4 for 172 looked competitive on a turning SCG track but ended up being well under par. Matthew Wade made yet another half-century and put on another half-century stand with D’Arcy Short. But they battled to get the Sixers spinners Ben Manenti and Steve O’Keefe away in the middle overs, and without a late cameo from George Bailey may well have fallen short of 170.1 for 225
Wade and Short just continued from their unbroken 158-run stand to beat the Adelaide Strikers none down. There was sharp spin in the opening over from Manenti, which meant caution was required early. But they found their groove yet again. They were simply flawless while keeping the rate above eight by targeting the pace of Tom Curran and Sean Abbott with five boundaries in the last three overs to get to 0 for 49 after six overs. It was the fifth time in 10 games they did not lose a wicket in the Powerplay. They kicked on to their ninth 50-plus partnership in the BBL, and the total partnership across the last two games reached 225 before Short holed out at deep midwicket.James Vince brought up his half-century off 36 balls•Getty Images

Better Bailey than neverWade reached fifty and was involved in some verbal niggle with Tom Curran and Moises Henriques. But while a 67-run stand between Wade and Ben McDermott appeared to be putting the Hurricanes in a powerful position, the run-rate slipped under eight as the spin of Manenti and O’Keefe proved hard to collar.Wade’s dismissal brought in Bailey, who has been arguably the most valuable player in the tournament for the role that he plays. Under pressure in the death overs he has delivered time and again. He gave himself four balls to get the pace of the wicket in the 18th and 19th overs but none were dots. In the 20thover he hit two fours and an incredible six over long-off, scooping it with the bottom hand. He scored 22 from nine balls to turn a total of 160 into 4 for 172. He now has 264 runs in the tournament at a strike-rate of 161.96. No other player in the tournament with more than 250 runs has a strike-rate higher than 145.Philippe fireworks
Philippe dominated the Powerplays in the JLT Cup 50-over competition for Western Australia in October at the top of the order. He then plundered 57 off 53 balls for the Prime Minister’s XI facing two of the world’s best fast bowlers in Dale Steyn and Kagiso Rabada in the Powerplay. But it took the Sydney Sixers nine games and four different openers to work out Philippe might be worth a try at the top.After scoring 17 off 11 to give the Sixers a fast start in the win over Brisbane Heat, he stepped up a gear on Wednesday. He lost his opening partner Daniel Hughes in the first over of the chase, but proceeded to smash 46 off 22 in the Powerplay to help the Sixers to 67 for 1, the equal-highest Powerplay score of the tournament. The best attack in the BBL was rendered helpless by Philippe’s fast hands and fast feet. He scored all around the ground, thumping three boundaries off the spin of Clive Rose and three off the pace of Jofra Archer in consecutive overs.Vintage Vince
Philippe cruised to his first T20 half-century off just 25 balls and allowed Vince to settle in. The pair scored at an electric rate without appearing to take too many risks. Not only did they thump 15 fours and five sixes between them, they also ran 12 twos. Vince cruised to his second successive fifty while Philippe crowned his career-best 86 not out with two extraordinary shots to finish the game – an inside out cover drive for six followed by a deft scoop over the keeper’s head.

Virat Kohli has said it has been made clear to Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul that their controversial comments made on an Indian TV show, which has left them facing a suspension, are not acceptable and the personal opinions are not the view of the India team.Pandya and Rahul appeared on a talk show on Sunday where their comments – Pandya’s in particular – came in for widespread criticism and raised concerns over the team culture. The BCCI issued the players a show-cause notice to which Pandya responded with an apology to the board.”From the Indian cricket team point of view, any inappropriate comments that are made in that scenario are something that we definitely don’t support and the two concerned players felt what has gone wrong and they have understood the magnitude of what’s happened,” Kohli said at the SCG ahead of the opening ODI against Australia. “Definitely it has to hit anyone hard, they will definitely understand the things that have not gone right.”We, definitely, as the Indian cricket team do not support views like that and that has been communicated. I can definitely say that as the Indian cricket team and responsible cricketers we definitely don’t align with those views and those are purely individual views.”We are still waiting for a decision to be made but from the Indian cricket team point of view this changes nothing in terms of our beliefs in the change room. It does nothing to the spirit that we’ve been able to create within the change room and these are purely individual opinions and something as I said which is inappropriate.”While the controversy is dealt with by the Committee of Administrators (CoA), which is overseeing the BCCI, it creates a headache for Kohli ahead of the first ODI on Saturday, especially the uncertainty around Pandya’s availability given how key he is to balancing the India line-up as the seam-bowling allounder in the middle order.Kohli acknowledged the outcome of the process may require the team to rethink their plans, but was confident that with Ravindra Jadeja in the squad, they had the options to cover for Pandya even though Jadeja is a spin-bowling allrounder.”From the combination and team balance point of view, yes, you’ll have to think about the combination you’ll need now,” Kohli said. “You don’t have control over these things so you have to address it the way it unfolds. That’s how we are looking at it, the combinations will have to be looked at when the decision comes out and from there on we’ll see what needs to be done about the whole situation.”

Aaron Finch came within a couple of millimeters of bagging a pair, but his use of the DRS showed that Ishant Sharma had overstepped. The ball was clipping the stumps, so if Ishant’s heel had been behind the line the on-field decision by Kumar Dharmasena would have stood.Given that it appeared Dharmasena was barely watching the frontline, it is to be presumed the wicket would have been checked anyway. But you never know. So it was a good job Finch took it out of the umpire’s hands and called for the DRS.How Finch was probably wishing he had done the same moments before tea.Pressing forward at R Ashwin, the delivery bounced and turned, lifted towards the top of Finch’s pad and, in the view of the umpire, seemed to glance the glove before being gathered by Rishabh Pant. Finch did not call for the review immediately, which batsmen normally do if they are sure they haven’t hit the ball, and after a word with Marcus Harris accepted his fate and walked off.But as the players left the field for the break, the multitude of replays – Snicko and HotSpot – suggested there had not been any touch on the glove. The debate continued into the next session, which showed how tight it was, but with a flat line on Snicko it would have been no surprise if the decision had been overturned had it been reviewed.It wasn’t the first time this season Finch was left to rue not calling in the third umpire. In the first ODI against South Africa he declined to review his lbw against Lungi Ngidi which was going over the stumps.He was also the non-striker when he helped Travis Head to decide to review his lbw in the next match against South Africa, in Adelaide, which was shown to be crashing into the stumps.

35 for 1 (Worker 18*, Nicholls 15*, Shaheen 1-18) Match abandoned
Babar Azam plays a square cut•Getty Images

Pakistan played what had looked like a solid enough game to finally win an ODI series against New Zealand, but when luck is out, it finds unique ways of making its presence felt. In this case, it was rain in the desert of Dubai that brought a watery end to proceedings seven overs into the New Zealand chase. Shaheen Afridi had removed dangerman Colin Munro in the first over in a chase of 280, and even though George Worker and Henry Nicholls had begun to rebuild, New Zealand will be much the happier side to shake hands in this manner.It’s hard not to wonder where this Pakistan side has been all along. Batting first against a team that has tormented them recently, Pakistan cast away the trepidation they appear to carry whenever they come up against an elite team of late, bossing the innings throughout as they racked up 279. A 108-run partnership between the irrepressible Babar Azam and an irresistible Haris Sohail today was at the heart of the domination, but in truth, Pakistan had control all along, with nothing that New Zealand did holding them back for long enough.There were three half-centuries for Pakistan, but it wasn’t until Haris Sohail came that they shifted gears. In a magnificent innings just when Pakistan needed to ensure they didn’t fall away, he delivered against his favourite opposition. A glorious cover drive off Ish Sodhi got him off the mark, and was only a harbinger of what was to come. He swiftly took over as the senior partner from Babar as Pakistan’s run rate shot up, each stroke he played more a work of art than a functional tool to get his side going. The best shot perhaps came against Trent Boult , a straight drive over the bowler’s head that perfectly pierced the gap between mid-on and mid-off.Boult was the unlikely man Pakistan chose to target today. The bowler has tormented Pakistan several times over the years, but today, Pakistan shook off any doubts they had and targetted the leader of New Zealand’s pace attack. It didn’t help the left-armer wasn’t having his best day; New Zealand in general were guilty of being too short and wide to batsmen who expertly exploited that. But it was in particular the liking Haris took to Boult that set the tone for Pakistan’s surge. The over after that straight drive, he carted another two boundaries off him, one glided past third man and the other a classy back-foot punch. Even when he came on in the death overs, he couldn’t quite pull things back the way he’s done so expertly of late. His final figures of 10-0-80-1 were the second most expensive of his ODI career.The first hammer blow to the New Zealand solar plexus came before the coin was tossed, with news that Kane Williamson would not be able to play due to a groin injury. Tom Latham captained in his absence, while Matt Henry was chosen to replace Tim Southee. For Pakistan, Mohammad Hafeez was promoted to open the innings after Imam-ul-Haq couldn’t recover from the blow to the head he sustained in the last game, and alongside Fakhar, he got Pakistan off to a crisp start.Expectedly, Fakhar dominated the 64-run opening stand.New Zealand didn’t look like taking a wicket until that point, but Hafeez unwittingly helped them when he stepped too far back to a Lockie Ferguson ball and trod on his stumps. Fakhar kept going, and brought up his second consecutive half-century. His innings, though, ended when he mistimed slog off Colin de Grandhomme.Babar constructed his innings in a classy manner without being noticed. He quietly kept the scorecard ticking when Haris was on fire. He took 68 balls to bring up his fifty but caught up almost effortlessly towards the end of the innings finishing with 92 off 100. He was caught slogging on the boundary in the penultimate over in an innings he had tailored to serve his side’s needs.Lockie Ferguson was the bowler that once more most worried Pakistan, and it was perhaps his efforts that prevented Pakistan from getting to 300, a real possibility at one stage. Alongside de Grandhomme, he ensured Pakistan did not get too far ahead. Their combined figures of 18-0-79-6 helped undo some of the carnage Pakistan had wreaked on some of their team-mates. Three wickets in the final over helped Ferguson pick up his first career five-wicket haul, and will have done his future chances with the national side no harm.For Pakistan, in the end, there is much encouragement to draw from this ODI series, even if a trophy at the end of it continues to elude them.