That's it from our coverage of the 2nd One-day International between New Zealand and Pakistan from Hamilton. Ninaad Dixit here signing off on behalf of my co-commentators Ajay Pal Singh & Karthik Raj alongside scorer/analyst Yogesh Kumar. Stay tuned for more action from around the world.
Michael Bracewell (New Zealand Captain): "Yeah, I think just the way we fought. The way we bat after losing wickets in the middle. The way Mitchell played to get to a competitive total was good to see.
Yeah, funny one. We had a photo of the team and were joking about how much experience we have. I don't think there is any secret, the domestic cricket is strong and the players are coming up and delivering performances at the international level.
It has been a great summer and we have been played some good cricket. For us, it is just about doing simple things fine. We don't want to sell ourselves short now and want to keep doing the simple things well and end on a high.
(On Ben Sears) Outstanding to see him do well. He has had a lot of injuries. Him putting performances for us is special. It is amazing to see when guys are working hard and they get the results that you want to see."
Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan Captain): "I feel sore but it is a part of the game. We didn't utilize the conditions. These guys bowled really well. Naseem and Faheem fought really well for us.
The conditions are a bit challenging. Swing and bounce is different from the Asian conditions. We are not making excuses, we are professionals. Their bowlers are quite disciplined with bowling in the right areas and hitting the right lengths.
Basically we lost the key moments. If you look at this match, we did well in the first 10 overs and the middle overs but we didn't bowl well enough in the death overs. Mitchell Hay played really well to allow them a good total.
They got a perfect start, they know the conditions and used it very well."
Mitchell Hay (POTM): "Getting to the hundred didn't cross my mind at all. Just swinging from my hip and hoping really.
[Partnership with Abbas] We talked about taking the game deep. We could do a lot of damage if we got to the deep period. He batted really really nicely.
It's been cool to play some games here. Definitely gives some confidence when you get some performances on the board as well.
I was pretty happy with the keeping. The bowlers also did well tonight so it's a pleasure to keep to and they make the job easy for me."
Player of the Match: Mitchell Hay
11:23 AM IST & 6:53 PM Local Time: That's it!!! New Zealand seal the series with a game to spare. The last match in Mount Maunganui will now be a dead rubber.
Quick recap to the 2nd one-day international at Hamilton as Pakistan won the toss and elected to bowl first. Keeper batter Mitchell Hay scored his highest ODI total with an unbeaten 99 of 78 balls hitting 7 fours and a maximum to take the Kiwis to 292/8 with Sufiyan Muqeem being the hero with the ball picking up 2/33 in his 10 overs.
Pakistan never looked comfortable in the chase losing half of their side for just 32 in 11.4 overs against the moving ball. Will O'Rourke and Jacob Duffy doing the bulk of the job in the first powerplay.
No batter in the Pakistan top 5 reached double digits. Tayyab Tahir hit 13 off 29 and added 33 runs with Faheem Ashraf for the 6th wicket. Faheem took his time to settle and then hammered 6 fours and 3 biggies to finish at 73 off 80 balls - his first fifty in ODIs.
Ben Sears bowled a terrific spell through the middle overs and broke the back of the Pakistani middle order. Haris Rauf was hit on the head and was sent out due to concussion with Naseem Shah replacing him and scoring a brisk 51 off 44 balls with 4 fours and as many sixes before edging one to the keeper to give Ben Sears his first 5-wicket haul in one-day internationals as he finished with 5/59.
Besides Sears, Jacob Duffy (3/35), O'Rourke (1/19) and Nathan Smith (1/53) joined the wicket taking party in conditions that were quite friendly to the seamers. Off spinning captain Michael Bracewell was the only wicketless bowler across both sides.