Pakistan 217 for 2 (31.3 overs: Afridi 108*, Imran Nazir 57) beat New Zealand 213 for 9 (50 overs: Styris 43, Saqlain 3-26, Wasim Akram 3-43) by eight wickets
scorecard

Shahid Afridi blasted a spectacular 108 not out off 92 balls to lift Pakistan into the Sharjah Cup final with an eight-wicket rout of New Zealand in the last round-robin match.

Afridi and Imran Nazir (57) made light of the target of 214 in an opening stand of 101 in just 14 overs. Afridi was content to play second fiddle to Nazir, scoring just four in the time it took Nazir to bring up his half-century. But then Afridi cut loose. He reached his fifty off 57 balls but his second fifty took just 35 balls. In all he hit seven fours and eight sixes in his third one-day century.

Legspinner Brooke Walker, playing his first match in the tournament, broke the opening stand with his third ball when he had Nazir caught behind by stand-in wicketkeeper Matthew Sinclair. Walker also dismissed Yousuf Youhana for 24 to a catch in the slips, but Imzamam-ul Haq kept Afridi company till the match ended with 17.3 overs to spare.

New Zealand had themselves wasted an explosive start as Nathan Astle and Matt Horne hammered 75 for the first wicket off just 11.5 overs before Pakistan grabbed four wickets in the space of four runs.

Harris (35) and Styris (43) boosted the total, but the advantage lay with Pakistan as Saqlain Mushtaq (3 for 26) and Wasim Akram (3 for 43) ensured that New Zealand were never able to post a tough target.

New Zealand's already desperate injury crisis worsened ahead of the match as frontline batsman Craig McMillan joined wicketkeeper Chris Nevin on the sidelines with a foot injury. With Chris Cairns, Dion Nash, Lou Vincent and Daniel Vettori already absent, it meant that they were fielding a virtual reserve side. When they bowled the lack of experience was cruelly exposed. . Horne (27) and Astle (36) came good for the first time in the tournament, tearing apart the opening spells of Akram and Waqar Younis. But Saqlain put an end to the mayhem by removing both openers in successive overs. He took a low return catch to get rid of Horne, while Waqar judged a skier superbly at mid-on to remove Astle.

Shoaib Akhtar knocked back Sinclair's stumps, and when Jacob Oram was run out due to Stephen Fleming's hesitation, New Zealand were reduced to 79 for 4. Fleming himself was trapped leg-before by Abdul Razzaq for 12, while Akram ended Harris' effort by removing him leg-before. Andre Adams, making his first appearance in the tournament, hit 20 off 28 balls, including a six into the stands at long-on off Waqar but it was too little, far too late.

New Zealand 1 Nathan Astle, 2 Matt Horne, 3 Mathew Sinclair (wk), 4 Stephen Fleming (capt), 5 Chris Harris, 6 Scott Styris, 7 Jacob Oram, 8 Andre Adams, 9 Ian Butler, 10 Brooke Walker, 11 Daryl Tuffey.

Pakistan 1 Imran Nazir, 2 Shahid Afridi, 3 Abdur Razzaq, 4 Inzamam-ul-Haq, 5 Yousuf Youhana, 6 Younis Khan, 7 Rashid Latif (wk), 8 Wasim Akram, 9 Waqar Younis (capt), 10 Shoaib Akhtar, 11 Saqlain Mushtaq.

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