Kane Williamson showed his class in his first league match in six months while Rachin Ravindra was at the top of the rankings as New Zealand blasted a 346-run target in their opening World Cup warm-up match against Pakistan Hyderabad on Friday. Apart from the openers, Pakistani batters including Mohammad Rizwan (103 retired, hurt on 91), Babar Azam (80 off 84) and Saud Shaukeel (75 off 53) had a good hit in the middle, helping their team to a daunting 345 could accommodate five in. 50 hours of overtime.
New Zealand reached the target in 43.4 overs with contributions from Ravindra (97 off 72), Williamson (54 off 50), Daryl Mitchell (59 retired, hurt off 57) and Mark Chapman (65 not out off 41).
While Pakistan had all 15 team members to choose from in the first of their two practice matches before the tournament proper, New Zealand had the opportunity to try out 14 players with Tim Southee yet to arrive in India as he continues to recover from a thumb injury. .
Ravindra, batting top in place of Will Young, gave the team management another opening option alongside Devon Conway, who lasted just one ball in the steep chase.
With the focus firmly on managing players’ workloads ahead of the main competition, Williamson walked back into the dressing room having scored a sublime half-century.
Williamson, who continues his knee rehabilitation from the injury he sustained in the IPL in March, only came into action on Friday and will not be part of the World Cup opener against England on October 5.
But the way he batted against the Pakistani attack, it certainly looked like he was ready on the batting front, if not in the other areas of the game.
A couple of backfoot strikes into the cover region from a seriously quick Haris Rauf showed that Williamson was very close to his best.
Ravindra at the other end pretty much covered the boundaries with his first 24 runs being just four. His entertaining innings consisted of 16 fours and a six.
Number four Mitchell put New Zealand on the cusp of a comfortable victory before pulling away. Chapman and Jimmy Neesham then undermined an ordinary Pakistani attack to secure a confidence-boosting victory for New Zealand.
While the majority of Pakistani batsmen would be happy with their efforts, the bowlers have plenty to worry about.
Star pacer Shaheen Afridi did not bowl in the match, allowing Haris Rauf and Hasan Ali to audition for the new ball in the absence of the injured Naseem Shah.
Rauf bowled just a four over spell and leaked 36 runs without a wicket. Hasan Ali, who is back in the Pakistani line-up after nine months away, was decent in his opening spell before going for runs in the later stages of the New Zealand innings.
Leggie Shadab Khan did not bowl and Usama Mir (2/68 in 10) picked up a few wickets in his absence. Part-time spinner Salman Agha (1/60 in 8) was easy meat for the opposition, as was left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz (0/55 in 7). Mohammad Wasim Jr (1/58 in 7) also proved expensive on a tough day for the bowlers.
After Pakistan opted to bat, Babar played his trademark drives offside and finished with eight fours and two sixes. The game was played behind closed doors as it coincided with festivities surrounding the immersion of Ganesh idols.
(This story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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