Colin de Grandhomme’s scintillating knock coupled with Henry Nicholls half century helped New Zealand overcome Shadab Khan’s inflicted crisis and win the 4th match against Pakistan by 5 wickets.
When Colin de Grandhomme walked into the middle to bat, New Zealand were struggling and needed 109 runs from just 90 balls, but the right-handed batsman played a stunning knock of 74 runs from just 40 balls and was brilliantly supported by his partner Henry Nicholls, 52 from 70, as the Kiwis reached the target with 25 balls in hand.
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Chasing a target of 263 runs, the hosts looked well in control till the 13th over. Openers Martin Guptill (31) and Colin Munro (56) added 88 runs for the first wickets but young sensation Shadab Khan picked up 2 wickets in 2 deliveries stretched over 2 overs and added another few overs later while Rumman Raees also took a wicket to reduce the opponents to 99/4.
Captain Kane Williamson (32) then revived Kiwis with a 55-run partnership with Henry Nicholls but it was the unbeaten partnership between Nicholls and Grandhomme which changed the momentum.
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Earlier, opting to bat first Pakistan had a dismal start as they lost 2 wickets—Faheem Ashraf and Babar Azam—for just 11 runs. However a 86-run stand brought things back for the visitors. It was a superb bowling spell from captain Kane Williamson which brought back NZ in game. Pak were reduced to 130/5.
Captain for captain proved to be the solution for Pak. Sarfraz Ahmed scored 51 from 46 balls and Mohammad Hafeez scored 81 from 80 as a 98-run stand between the two followed in just 92 balls and Pakistan ended at 262/8 in their quota of 50 overs.
Hafeez was the top scorer while Shoaib Malik complained of a concussion. Tim Southee picked up 3 wickets.
The win gave New Zealand a 4-0 lead in 5-match ODI series.