Umar Gul’s five knocks down New Zealand

London, June 14 (IANS) Umar Gul became the first bowler in Twenty20 internationals to claim five wickets in an innings as a resurgent Pakistan fired on all cylinders to convincingly defeat New Zealand by six wickets in a World Twenty20 Group F Super Eights match at The Oval here Saturday to stay alive in the tournament.

Gul’s incredible five wickets for six runs bowled out New Zealand for just 99 runs in 18.3 overs after the Black Cats had opted to bat. It was a superb bowling display by Man of the Match Gul, who was well assisted by comeback man Abdul Razzaq (2-17) in what was Pakistan’s must-win match.

After preventing New Zealand from achieving the three-figure mark, the win was just a matter of time for Pakistan.

Teenager Shahzaid Hasan (35) along with the experienced Kamran Akmal (19) gave Pakistan a steady start while some big hits by Shahid Afridi (29 not out) saw Pakistan achieve the target in 13.1 overs after losing just four wickets.

New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori, who came into the side for the first time in the tournament despite not being fully fit, picked up 2-20 but the score was too small to defend.

Pakistan were desperate to win and this was apparent when Afridi effected a stunning catch, short of the long-on boundary, off Gul to dismiss Scott Styris (22).

Gul, who has emerged as one of the best bowlers in Twenty20′s short international life, also became the leading wicket taker in the tournament with 10 scalps. He came in to bowl with New Zealand placed at 72/4 and then ran through the New Zealand batting line-up to produce the best figures in Twenty20 internationals.

Razzaq, who came back to mainstream cricket after relinquishing his ties with the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL), gave the Pakistanis an obvious lift from the start with the new ball after Mohammad Aamir’s first over gave away 14 runs.

New Zealand Innings

Brendon McCullum c Alam b Razzaq 12 (6)
Aaron Redmond c Gul b Aamer 15 (14)
Martin Guptill lbw Abdul 8 (8)
Scott Styris c Afridi b Gul 22 (29)
Jacob Oram c Misbah b Afridi 5 (11)
Peter McGlashan lbw Gul 8 (8)
Nathan McCullum b Gul 7 (11)
James Franklin b Gul 7 (13)
Daniel Vettori run out (Younis/Razzaq) 8 (9)
Kyle Mills c Shahzaib b Gul 0 (1)
Ian Butler not out 1 (1)

Extras (lb 4, w 2) 6
Total (all out in 18.3 overs) 99

Fall of wickets: 1-17 (Brendon, 1.4), 2-33 (Redmond, 4.2), 3-37 (Guptill, 5.3), 4-55 (Oram, 9.3), 5-73 (Styris, 12.3), 6-73 (McGlashan, 12.4), 7-88 (Nathan, 15.4), 8-93 (Franklin, 17.3), 9-93 (Mills, 17.4), 10-99 (Vettori, 18.3)

Bowling
Mohammad Aamer 3-0-23-1
Abdul Razzaq 3.3-1-17-2
Saeed Ajmal 4-0-24-0
Shahid Afridi 4-0-17-1
Shoaib Malik 1-0-8-0
Umar Gul 3-0-6-5

Pakistan Innings
Kamran Akmal c Guptill b Mills 19 (14)
Shahzaib Hasan run out (Brendan/McGlashan) 35 (28)
Abdul Razzaq c McGlashan b Vettori 5 (8)
Shoaib Malik c Brendan b Vettori 4 (3)
Shahid Afridi not out 29 (18)
Younis Khan not out 6 (9)

Extras (w 1, nb 1) 2
Total (for 4 wickets in 13.1 overs) 100

Fall of wickets: 1-36 (Akmal, 4.2), 2-61 (Razzaq, 7.6), 3-61 (Shahzaib Hasan, 8.1), 4-71 (Malik, 9.2)

Bowling
Kyle Mills 4-0-28-1
James Franklin 2-0-19-0
Daniel Vettori 4-0-20-2
Ian Butler 2-0-22-0
Nathan McCullum 1.1-0-11-0

Toss: New Zealand, elected to bat
Man of the Match: Umar Gul (Pakistan)