O’Rourke’s 4 wickets limit Pakistan to 242 in tri-series final – Sport

New Zealand pace bowler Will O’Rourke took four wickets to restrict Pakistan to a modest 242 runs in the tri-series final in Karachi on Friday.

Pakistan, who lost to New Zealand but beat South Africa in previous matches, brought in all-rounder Faheem Ashraf in place of pacer Mohammad Hasnain.

New Zealand, who won both their games, left out pace bowlers Ben Sears and Matt Henry, bringing in Jacob Duffy and Nathan Smith.

Today, O’Rourke finished with 4-43 and was ably supported by spinners Mitchell Santner (2-20) and Michael Bracewell (2-38) as Pakistan were dismissed in 49.3 overs after they won the toss and batted.

Skipper Mohammad Rizwan top-scored with a 76-ball 46, while Salman Agha hit 45 off 65 balls, with slow and variable bounce on the National Bank Stadium pitch proving tough for batting.

The final is a dress rehearsal for the opening match of the Champions Trophy between the same teams at the same venue on Wednesday.

Pakistan lost opener Fakhar Zaman to O’Rourke in the fourth over for 10 and then Saud Shakeel for eight.

Babar Azam looked good for his 29 runs, hitting four boundaries and a six, and reached 6,000 runs scored in one-day internationals when he was on 10.

He was playing his 123rd inning, the joint fastest to reach the 6,000-runs milestone with South African Hashim Amla.

Azam fell to a miscued shot off Nathan Smith, leaving Pakistan struggling at 54-3.

Rizwan and Agha, who shared a match-winning 260-run partnership against South Africa on Wednesday, then revived the innings with an 88-run stand.

Rizwan hit four boundaries and a six but he and Agha fell within 19 runs of each other to end any hope of a big total.

Tayyab Tahir hit a 33-ball 38, also with four boundaries and a six, while Faheem Ashraf (22) and Naseem Shah (19) added 39 invaluable runs to get Pakistan past 240.

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