A good Solid performance with the bat helps Pakistan win the 3rd ODI - The 3rd ODI of the series between Pakistan and New Zealand was played at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium where both the teams met to play the 2nd ODI. This was a known venue and both the teams has been playing their cricket over the past month on this grounds. In this match after winning the toss the Pakistan team decided to bat first.
For the 1st time in the series the decision of batting first was proved to be correct as the top order of the home side clicked scoring runs. Mohammad Hafeez scored 33 runs while Younis Khan chipped in with 35. Ahmed Shehzad the other opener was the player who made all the difference in the top order as he scored 113 runs. Shahid Afridi in the middle also contributed well with a 26 ball 55 runs innings which helped the home team post a total of 364 runs at the end of 50 overs. Matt Henry was an exception with the ball as he took 3 wickets for the team.
The New Zealanders had a tough task at hand as a target of 365 runs is quite a testing one for any team. The openers failed to provide their team a start which was much required as Martin Guptill and Anton Devcich lost their wicket after scoring 12 and 0 runs respectively. The middle order too chipped in with 30’s and 40’s but there was no single contribution in the match which made a difference to the chase. At the end the New Zealanders lost their way in search of quick runs and were bowled out in the 39th over at a score of 217 thus losing the match by 147 runs. Shahid Afridi and Haris Sohail took 3 wickets each in the match. Ahmed Shehzad was named as the player of the match for scoring a century for Pakistan. The home team now leads the 5 match series by 2-1.