CHRISTCHURCH: Mohammad Rizwan crafted an unbeaten 90 to dominate Pakistan’s score of 158-5 in the fourth Twenty20 international against New Zealand in Christchurch on Friday.
Rizwan’s 63-ball knock was classy but lacked support from his team-mates against a tight New Zealand attack as Pakistan posted a score they hope will be enough to secure their first win of the five-match series, having been well beaten in the opening three games.
The Black Caps won all three by batting first, prompting their captain Mitchell Santner to insert the tourists after winning the toss, saying he wanted to “change it up.”
His bowlers responded by largely bowling with discipline, led by seamers Matt Henry (2-22) and Lockie Ferguson (2-27).
Rizwan threatened to reach his second T20 international century but was denied the strike over the closing stages in an innings with a relatively low percentage of boundaries: six fours and two sixes.
Allrounder Mohammad Nawaz was the only other player to surpass 20 runs, whacking pace bowler Adam Milne for three successive sixes in his final over to post 21 off nine balls.
Babar Azam, who scored half-centuries in each of the first three games, fell for 19 when he skied an attempted pull off Milne in the seventh over.
New Zealand opening batter Devon Conway was ruled out after testing positive for Covid-19.
He was replaced by Will Young, who will bat at number three, with Tim Seifert moving up one spot to open.
In a second change, Milne replaced legspinner Ish Sodhi.
Pakistan made a solitary change, introducing middle-order batter Sahibzada Farhan in place of Azam Khan, with Rizwan to wear the wicketkeeper’s gloves in Azam’s absence.
New Zealand chasing 159 to win fourth T20 against Pakistan
https://arab.news/n2xxj
New Zealand chasing 159 to win fourth T20 against Pakistan
- Mohammad Rizwan crafted unbeaten 90 to dominate Pakistan’s score of 158-5
- Rizwan’s 63-ball knock was classy but lacked support from his team-mates
Dembélé stars as PSG crushes bitter rival Marseille 5-0 to regain top spot in Ligue 1
- The win restored defending champion PSG’s two-point lead over Lens after 21 rounds, with Marseille in fourth place behind Lyon after the humiliating defeat
PARIS: Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé starred with two goals and an assist as Paris Saint-Germain crushed bitter rival Marseille 5-0 to reclaim top spot in Ligue 1 on Sunday.
The win restored defending champion PSG’s two-point lead over Lens after 21 rounds, with Marseille in fourth place behind Lyon after the humiliating defeat.
“We wanted to send a message that we’re back,” Dembélé said after PSG’s biggest winning margin against Marseille.
“It was almost perfect,” PSG coach Luis Enrique said. “It’s an important day for our fans because we made history, 5-0 never happened before.”
Despite PSG’s attacking flair, Marseille coach Roberto De Zerbi’s choices will be scrutinized following a truly dismal performance from his side lacking composure and fight. Marseille was eliminated from the Champions League following a 3-0 defeat against Club Brugge less than two weeks ago.
“Once again, I say sorry to the fans,” De Zerbi said. “I’m not in the players’ heads. I thought we had prepared well for this game but clearly not. We need to understand why we played this way in Bruges and here.”
Top scorer Mason Greenwood, fellow forward Amine Gouiri and new signing Ethan Nwaneri were anonymous in attack, with veteran Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on the bench.
De Zerbi dropped goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli after a couple of poor performances and replaced him with Jeffrey de Lange, who was out of sorts, albeit not helped by his defense.
De Lange was easily beaten when Dembélé side-footed in a cross from left back Nuno Mendes in the 12th minute following a quick break launched by Désiré Doué.
However, PSG could have been down to 10 players before then. Midfielder Vitinha caught defender Leonardo Balerdi’s ankle with a late tackle but escaped with a yellow card.
Having denied Bradley Barcola with a fine low save, De Lange was beaten again in the 37th when Dembélé profited from a glaring error from Balerdi.
He let the ball through his legs on PSG’s right flank, allowing Dembélé to attack the penalty area, dribble past him and find the roof of the net.
“We can’t accept this, we don’t come here to play like this,” said Balerdi, who did not mention his own performance. “We were not good enough and you could see it. Against such a team you pay for it.”
Marseille’s weak defense cracked in 10 second-half minutes, with Facundo Medina scoring an own-goal over the head of De Lange, and Dembélé setting up Khvicha Kvaratskhelia for a clinical volley before Lee Kang-in slotted home the fifth.
Marseille’s 1-0 win over PSG in September will seem like a distant memory.
Fans closely watched
PSG fans were in the spotlight after last season’s match at Parc des Princes was marred by homophobic and racist chanting, with a warning to “stop discriminatory chants” posted on the giant screen.
There were brief discriminatory chants about Marseille at the start of the game and referee Willy Delajod stopped play for about one minute around the 70th, at which point a message was posted on the big screen.
Köhn gets away with blunder
Monaco goalkeeper Philipp Köhn got away with a blunder in a 0-0 draw at Nice in the French Riviera derby.
Köhn stopped the ball going out for a corner but slid and mis-kicked it to attacking midfielder Sofiane Diop on the edge of the penalty area in the 72nd minute. Diop’s curling shot was going in until defender Thilo Kehrer acrobatically heeled the ball away.
Folarin Balogun hit the crossbar for Monaco in the third minute.
Other matches
Veteran striker Ciro Immobile drew a blank on his league debut for Paris FC in a 0-0 draw at Auxerre.
During the 2019-20 season he finished as the “Capocannoniere” (top scorer) in the Italian league with 36 goals for Lazio and has scored 304 goals overall at club level.
Immobile played forward Jonathan Ikoné clean through during the second half, but Ikoné’s shot was saved.
Angers moved up to ninth after beating Toulouse 1-0 thanks to a brilliant lob from defender Lilian Raolisoa from nearly 40 meters out in the 89th.
Le Havre moved up to 13th after winning 2-1 at home to Strasbourg.
Lens beat Rennes 3-1 on Saturday.
