New Zealand tame Pakistan in ODI tri-series final: Key stats
What's the story
New Zealand's cricket team delivered a stellar performance in the tri-series final against Pakistan.
The Kiwis restricted their opponents to a total of 242 runs on a challenging Karachi pitch.
Will O'Rourke led the seam attack with impressive figures of 4/43, while Mitchell Santner contributed significantly with his spin bowling.
In response, fifties from the blades of Daryl Mitchell and Tom Latham handed New Zealand a solid win. NZ scored 243/5 in 45.3 overs.
Spin mastery
Santner's exceptional performance against Pakistan
New Zealand's captain and leading spinner, Santner, was simply brilliant with the ball, returning with 10-1-20-2.
He didn't concede a single boundary and was brilliant with his pace.
Forty of Santner's 60 deliveries were dot balls, making this his most economical 10-over spell in One Day International (ODI) cricket.
In 113 matches, Santner owns 117 scalps at 36.45. He now owns 22 maidens in ODIs, as per ESPNcricinfo.
Seam supremacy
O'Rourke's seam attack stuns Pakistan's lower order
O'Rourke's high pace and bounce initially troubled the Pakistani batters.
He later returned to dismiss Pakistan's lower order with his slower variations, including Naseem Shah who was caught out for 19.
Before that, he got the likes of opener Fakhar Zaman, middle-order batter Mohammad Rizwan and lower all-rounder Faheem Ashraf.
In nine matches, he owns 14 scalps at 29.57. This was his maiden four-fer. He has surpassed 50 wickets in List A cricket (51).
Batting boost
Tahir's lively batting aids Pakistan's total
Tayyab Tahir was instrumental in lifting Pakistan's total with his brisk 38 off 33 balls.
He was the only batter among the top seven to have a strike rate of over 100.
However, despite this effort, Pakistan found it difficult to maintain a high scoring rate throughout their innings due to New Zealand's tight bowling and fielding strategies.
Babar
Babar Azam becomes joint-fastest to 6,000 ODI runs
Former Pakistan captain Babar Azam reached a major career milestone, scoring his 6,000th ODI run in the tri-series final.
Babar achieved the feat in his 123rd inning (126th match), becoming the joint-fastest player alongside former South African opener Hashim Amla to reach the landmark.
India's Virat Kohli had previously set the record for scoring his 6,000th run in his 136th inning in an ODI against Sri Lanka in 2014.
Runs
Babar averages 55.73 in ODIs
With his score of 29 runs, the Pakistan batter now owns 6,019 runs at an average of 55.73.
As mentioned in 126 ODIs, he has managed a strike rate of 88.13, alongside 19 tons and 34 fifties.
Additionally, he boasts a high score of 158 which he smashed against England in 2021.
Notably, 1,533 of his ODI runs have come at home.
According to ESPNcricinfo, Babar owns the most ODI runs for Pakistan among active players and stands 11th overall.
NZ
NZ innings summary
The Kiwis lost Will Young early on before Devon Conway and Kane Williamson added 71 runs for the 2nd wicket.
Conway scored 48 runs from 74 balls. Williamson managed 34 runs from 49 balls.
NZ were 108/3 with Conway's wicket. Thereafter, Mitchell and Latham shared a brilliant 87-run stand for the 4th wicket.
Mitchell scored 57 runs whereas Latham bagged 56. Glenn Phillips scored an unbeaten 20 in the end.
Information
Naseem takes 2 wickets for PAK
Among Pakistan bowlers, Naseem took two wickets for 43 runs from 8 overs. Shaheen Afridi picked 1/45 from 9 overs. Abrar Ahmed managed 1/67 from 10 overs. Salman Agha picked 1/45 from 10 overs.
Duo
Massive stats for Mitchell and Latham
Mitchell now owns 536 runs versus Pakistan at 53.60. He has two fifties and two tons. Overall, he has bagged 1,765 runs in ODIs at an impressive 50.42.
This was his 7th ODI fifty (100s: 6).
In 152 matches, Latham has raced to 4,156 runs at 34.06. He hammered his 25th fifty (100s: 7).
He also surpassed 350 fours (351). Against Pakistan, he has tallied 638 runs at 29.