Ross Taylor blasted 131 off 124 balls, including 28 and 30 runs off Shoaib Akhtar and Abdul Razzaq as New Zealand achieved only their second win in the ICC World Cup during the 2011 clash in Pallekele.
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In the history of the ICC World Cup, New Zealand has a poor record against the likes of Australia and New Zealand. Although they have beaten Australia consistently in the past, their struggles against Pakistan have been gut-wrenching. New Zealand’s first win against Pakistan came in the 1983 World Cup. Since then, Pakistan hurt New Zealand at every point in the World Cup. In 1992, they spectacularly knocked New Zealand out in the semi-final. 1996 and 1999 only prolonged the agony.
But, all that changed in the 2011 ICC World Cup encounter at Pallekele in Sri Lanka. Pakistan and New Zealand clashed in what was going to be a crucial match. The Kiwis had won against Zimbabwe, Kenya but lost heavily to Australia. Pakistan, on the other hand, had made a strong start by beating Canada, Kenya, Zimbabwe as well as Sri Lanka. But, against New Zealand, they were not helped by some poor catching, especially from wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal.
New Zealand batted first and Brendon McCullum signaled his intentions with a six off Shoaib Akhtar. But, it was a case of six and out for McCullum as Akhtar got a delivery to nip back in sharply to breach his defense. Martin Guptill and Jamie How steadied the ship, with Guptill striking some aggressive boundaries. But, when How was trapped LBW by Umar Gul, Pakistan held the upper hand. In came Ross Taylor and on his birthday, he blew out Pakistan’s candles.
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Taylor could have fallen for 0 as Akhtar got Taylor’s edge on the fifth ball. But, it flew past Kamran Akmal who did not go for the catch. In that same over, Akmal dropped Taylor again and that incensed the bowler. Those two moments upset Pakistan’s momentum and from that point on, things deteriorated.
With fans now making fun of Kamran Akmal’s dropping, Taylor capitalized and made good progress with Martin Guptill. It was Guptill who reached his fifty but he was bowled by Shahid Afridi on 57. With James Franklin trapped LBW by Mohammad Hafeez, Pakistan regained the initiative. Akmal’s cement hands continued to hurt Pakistan, with Scott Styris being the new beneficiary. Taylor notched up his fifty and Styris made solid progress in a partnership that crossed fifty. But, when Styris fell to Gul in the 42nd over, it looked like New Zealand would waste the batting powerplay. But, Taylor had other ideas.
From the 45th over of the innings, the cricketing world saw a new meaning to the word carnage. The first signs came in Afridi’s bowling. Both Nathan McCullum and Taylor smoked a six each as New Zealand crossed 200. McCullum hit another six but was sent back by Gul as New Zealand reached 210/6 in 46 overs. The stage was set for an onslaught.
In the 47th over of the innings bowled by Akhtar, things went pear-shaped. Taylor hit a wide ball for four and followed it up by hammering two massive sixes. Akhtar followed it up with a couple of wides as the pressure told. But, Taylor notched up a century on his birthday by hammering a four and six as 28 runs were leaked in that over.
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Things only got worse for Pakistan in the 49th over bowled by Abdul Razzaq. After Abdur Rehman was hit for a six and four by Jacob Oram, New Zealand had held the momentum. All the dropped chances that Pakistan had caused were now hurting them big time. Taylor launched three sixes off Razzaq, each bigger than the previous one. In addition to two fours, Razzaq conceded 30 runs in the penultimate over. When Oram hit two sixes off Rehman, New Zealand had plundered 107 runs in 32 balls as they ended on 302/7. It was absolute carnage in Pallekele, as it was mentioned by one of the on-air commentators at that time.
Boosted by Taylor’s onslaught, New Zealand totally dominated Pakistan. Tim Southee took 3/25 and aided by two wickets from Kyle Mills, Nathan McCullum, and Scott Styris, New Zealand registered a comfortable 110-run win.
That win, though, would be one of the few high points for New Zealand and Taylor in their 2011 World Cup campaign. Taylor and the entire New Zealand team put on a splendid performance to dump South Africa out of the tournament in Mirpur. But, in the semi-final, they lost a tough match to Sri Lanka. After the 2011 World Cup, Taylor went on to become one of the greatest batsman New Zealand had produced. He became the leading run-getter for New Zealand in Tests and ODIs and he also became the first player to play 100 matches in all three formats.
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New Zealand reached the finals of the 2015 and 2019 World Cup, where they lost both times. 2019 final, in particular, was heartbreaking as they lost out on a technicality. Taylor, though, would be there to end New Zealand’s two-decade ICC jinx. He struck the winning runs against India in the final in Southampton as New Zealand was crowned World Test Champions.
