Haris Rauf takes 4/22 as Pakistan restrict NZ to 134 for 8
Sharjah, Oct 26: Pacer Haris Rauf led a clinical bowling show with four wickets for 22 runs as Pakistan restricted New Zealand to a small total of 134 for eight in their ICC T20 World Cup Super 12 match here on Tuesday.
The Kiwis were in all sorts of trouble after they were invited to bat in the face a disciplined Pakistani bowling attack with opener Daryl Mitchell and Devon Conway top-scoring with 27 each and captain Kane Williamson contributing 25.
New Zealand could not have one substantial partnership with their highest being the 36-run opening stand between Mitchell and Martin Guptill (17).
Shaheen Afridi, Imad wasim and Mohammad Hafeez also took one wicket each for Pakistan.
Afridi, who rattled the Indian top-order in Pakistan's 10-wicket win on Sunday, got the swing in the opening over which was a maiden one. But Mitchell hit a four off his second over which yielded eight runs.
Mitchell then hoisted Hasan Ali for a six as New Zealand looked to take the initiative. But they were unable to come out of the power play unscathed as Rauf uprooted Guptill's timbers after the ball took a deflection off the batter's pads.
Mitchell paid the price of going for one too many as he holed out to Fakhar Zaman near the ropes after he smashed a six off Imad in the ninth over.
New batter James Neesham did not last long as he was out for 1 in the next over off Hafeez as New Zealand reached 60 for three at halfway mark.
The Kiwis stepped on the gas and took 25 runs from the 12th and 13th overs together with Williamson smashing Hafeez for a six and a four, even as Conway clobbered Shadab Khan for three successive boundaries.
But the Kiwi innings took a turn after Williamson was run out in the 14th over as Hasan Ali's brilliant direct throw off his own bowling dislodged the bails.
New Zealand could only reach the 100-run mark at the end of the 15th over and as runs were hard to come by, they got a four after four overs, only to see Conway and Glenn Phillips (13) getting out in the space of three balls in the 18th over bowled by Rauf.
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ILNA reports former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad killed in strikes
Tehran: Iran’s ILNA News Agency has reported that former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was killed during the ongoing US and Israeli attacks.
According to ILNA, Ahmadinejad was killed following strikes in Tehran’s Narmak district, including an attack on his residence. The report said he died along with his bodyguards.
News of the deaths of three of Ahmadinejad’s bodyguards was released on February 28, coinciding with the first day of the US and Israeli attacks on Iran.
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Ahmadinejad served as Iran’s president from 2005 to 2013. He was widely known internationally for his hardline rhetoric against Israel and for accelerating Iran’s nuclear programme during his tenure. At home, his disputed re-election in 2009 led to the “Green Movement” protests across the country.
In recent years, Ahmadinejad had positioned himself as a populist critic of the current ruling establishment, though he continued to serve as a member of the Expediency Discernment Council, the body currently involved in helping shape temporary leadership arrangements.
