Pakistan’s tour of New Zealand went from bad to worse today at the Seddon Park in Hamilton as they lost the second ODI and thereby conceded the series as well. They failed to chase the target of 293 runs and were bundled out for just 208 runs in the 42nd over.
New Zealand defeated Pakistan in the second ODI by 84 runs at the Seddon Park in Hamilton to seal the three-match series with a game to go. It was a thoroughly dominating performance from the home team as they never let the men in green a way back in the encounter. Mitchell Hay and Ben Sears were the stars for the Kiwis, while the other players chipped in vital contributions in their respective departments to keep Pakistan at bay. This is Pakistan’s fifth consecutive defeat in ODIs, while in 2025, they are yet to beat New Zealand in five matches. In fact, they have lost all five matches to them in just 54 days.
Earlier, the coin fell in Mohammad Rizwan’s favour as Pakistan opted to bowl first. The hosts got off to a rollicking start with Nick Kelly and Rhys Mariu added 54 runs in just 6.2 overs. Runs continued to come at a fair clip even after the openers went back to the hut, however, the visitors stormed back in the game with back-to-back wickets of Daryl Mitchell and Henry Nicholls to leave them reeling 102/4 in the 17th over.
The run-scoring went down drastically then, with Sufiyan Muqeem spinning a web around. When Michael Bracewell got out in the 27th over, the score was 132/5, and it seemed as it New Zealand will finish with an under par score. But Mitchell Hay, batting at number seven, had other ideas as he went hammer and tongs, especially at the death.
He stitched a 67-run stand with Muhammad Abbas first and then farmed a lot of strike to himself in the last 10 overs to add extremely vital runs. Nathan Smith and Ben Sears just stuck with him in the middle as he slammed an unbeaten 99 off just 78 deliveries. Unfortunately, he missed out on his ton as New Zealand finished strongly on 292/8 in their 50 overs.
In response, Pakistan found themselves in dire straits at 32/5 in the 12th over. The trio of Jacob Duffy, Ben Sears and William O’Rurke were all over the Pakistan batters. None of Babar Azam, Imam-ul-Haq, Rizwan and Salman Agha couldn’t spend time in the middle. At 72/7, it seemed that the visitors were in danger of losing by more than 200 runs.
However, Faheem Ashraf stood tall to score 73 runs while concussion substitute Naseem Shah played an enterprising knock of 51 runs. But the result was long a foregone conclusion in the clash. Sears ended with a five-wicket haul while Duffy picked up a three-fer as Pakistan were skittled for just 208 runs.
