Mitch Hay of New Zealand, New Zealand Blackcaps v Pakistan, 2nd ODI cricket match at Seddon Park, Hamilton, New Zealand on Wednesday 2 April 2025. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
Black Caps v Pakistan
Starts: 11am Saturday 5 April
Bay Oval, Mt Maunganui
Live updates on RNZ Sport
Mitch Hay can only laugh at how close he got to his maiden international ODI century as he helped power the Black Caps to a win and series victory over Pakistan at Seddon Park, Hamilton.
Hay's swashbuckling 99 not out and and a five wicket haul from Ben Sears featured in the 84-run win which gave them the three-match series with a game to spare.
Hay and Muhammad Abbas (41) gave the Black Caps innings the impetus it needed after they came together when the side 132 for five in the 27th over.
Hay was on 81 when the last over started and said he initially didn't know what score he was on as he launched an 18-run blitz. He needed a six off the last ball to make his ton and smacked a drive which Faheem Ashraf dived to stop. It was eventually declared a boundary after Ashraf's foot was in contact with the rope.
"I thought I was nowhere near it (100)," Hay said after the match.
"Then in that last over I got that inside edge for four, second last ball I think, and I was like there's a chance. But I couldn't get under the last one,'' he said with a chuckle.
Hay praised the influence of 21-year-old Abbas, who was fresh off his half-century on debut in the first match on Saturday.
"It was pretty tough out there to start. It was just a time me and Mo talked about absorbing a bit of pressure and hopefully applying it later on.
"Mo was great. He was a pretty calming influence out there. He is crazy mature beyond his years. It was really nice to bat with him."
Hay was named player of the match after blasting seven sixes and seven fours in a 78-ball innings.
The Black Caps scored 292 for eight in their 50 overs, with Rhys Mariu on debut and Nick Kelly putting on 54 for the first wicket.
Will O'Rourke struck early in the chase to remove Abdullah Shafique before Jacob Duffy took the prized scalp of Azam for just one.
Black Cap Ben Sears celebrates the wicket of Pakistan's Mohammad Wasim during the second one-day international cricket match at Seddon Park in Hamilton. 3 April 2025. Photo: Photosport
It soon got worse for the visitors, Duffy dismissing Imam-ul-Haq to have Pakistan reeling at 9/3.
Salman Agha survived until the eleventh when Sears sent him back to the sheds, and two balls later Rizwan sent one to the heavens, falling into the gloves of Hay to put Pakistan in dire position at 32/5.
Faheem Ashraf offered some lower order resistance with 73, while Naseem Shah's fighting fifty took things deeper than expected, Sears eventually finishing things off in the 42nd. Sears finished with five for 59.
The third and final match is at Mount Maunganui on Saturday.
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