AP, Abu Dhabi :
New Zealand shrugged off Younis Khan’s first limited-overs century for six years to clinch a seven-run victory over Pakistan on Wednesday in a fourth one-day international where players wore black armbands following the attack on a military school in Peshawar.
The Pakistan Cricket Board went ahead with the match a day after 148 people – most of them children – were killed by the Taliban in the attack in Pakistan’s northwestern city.
The PCB, which has been forced to play its home games overseas since an attack by gunmen in 2009, initially wanted to postpone the match. But in a statement, it later said “if we allow terrorists to disrupt our matches abroad, then all will be lost.”
All proceeds from the match will go to families of those who died in Tuesday’s attack, and also toward rebuilding the school.
Both teams wore black armbands and observed a minute’s silence before the match started Afridi said his team was playing for the families of the students and teachers who were killed.
“It was difficult times for the boys since yesterday, but we agreed to play for the families of victims in Peshawar,” Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi said.
The match ultimately went New Zealand’s way in a nail-biting finish, leveling the series 2-2.
Khan, dropped on 2 by Ross Taylor in the slips, hit 103 off 117 balls for a first ODI century since 2008, when Pakistan faced the West Indies at the same venue. Afridi blazed a 25-ball 49 before New Zealand held its nerve to restrict the home team to 292-8.
Earlier, captain Kane Williamson had anchored the Kiwis to 299-5 with a gritty 123 off 105 balls after winning his first toss of the series and batting first.
“They pushed us and it was nice to pick up some timely wickets at the end and close it out,” Williamson said. “They made it quite difficult and it was great to come back with the ball in the second part of the Pakistan innings.”
The decisive final game of the five-match series will be played at the same Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Friday.
Afridi hit five fours and two sixes before he was caught behind in the 45th over and Khan, who hit four boundaries and two sixes, was clean bowled by Daniel Vettori off the last ball of his spell to finish with 3-53.
Pakistan required 16 runs off the last over, but Anwar Ali and Sohail Tanvir could only hit fast bowler Matt Henry for eight runs.
Vettori’s twin strikes had left Pakistan reeling at 82-4 before Khan put Pakistan’s chase back on track with a 90-run fifth wicket stand with Umar Akmal that included 45 off the second batting powerplay.
Akmal was unlucky to be run out when Mitchell McClenaghan got fingers off Khan’s hard drive that hit the stumps with Akmal way out of crease.
Earlier, the 24-year-old Williamson, standing in as skipper for the rested Brendon McCullum for the series, hit 12 fours off 105 balls to become New Zealand’s youngest captain to score a limited-overs century.
Martin Guptill (58) and Dean Brownlie (42) provided a strong start of 81 off 100 balls, and then Williamson took charge.
He led the surge of 91 runs in the last 10 overs, and was bowled by a Mohammad Irfan (2-53) yorker off the last ball of the innings.
Left-arm fast bowler Sohail Tanvir found the outside edge of Guptill in the 25th over, but misjudged a catch at deep midwicket which could have ended Taylor’s (26) innings at 7.
Taylor added 63 runs with Williamson before Irfan induced an outside edge by Taylor in his return spell. Corey Anderson (23) also holed out in the deep in a bid to up the scoring rate.
Williamson converted his seventh fifty in his last nine ODIs when he pulled Irfan to the midwicket boundary. He dominated the 72-run, fifth-wicket stand off 47 balls with Tom Latham to the end of the innings.
