Shoaib Malik perishes in the most remarkable fashion at Abu Dhabi
The dismissal didn’t hurt Pakistan as they were able to accomplish the target with 57 balls to spare.
The game of cricket has been a witness to a number of bizarre dismissals over the years. The illustrious sport saw another peculiar form of getting out in the previous encounter between Pakistan and New Zealand at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Shoaib Malik, the home team’s middle order batsman, was left absolutely stunned after what panned out in the middle.
The incident took place in the 33rd over of the Men in Green’s run-chase in the second ODI after the Black Caps racked 209 runs for the loss of nine wickets in 50 overs. He came to bat following Babar Azam’s wicket in the 29th over. Pakistan, at that point in time, needed 54 runs from 127 balls and Malik would’ve hoped to see his team through to an effortless victory.
Ferguson removes Malik
In the fourth delivery of the 33rd over, Malik went for a full-blooded pull shot off right-arm fast bowler Lockie Ferguson, who churned out a well-directed bouncer. However, the batsman was able to get on top of the ball and found the middle of the willow. Nevertheless, the leather speared towards Henry Nicholls, who was standing at the short leg region.
The fielder resorted to taking an evasive action, but the bat hit his left shoulder and went up in the air. After getting hit, Nicholls winced in pain and fell on the ground. In the meantime, Ish Sodhi ran in from the deep and took a simple catch to complete the formalities of dismissing Malik, who scored 10 runs from 13 balls with the help of a solitary boundary.
The dismissal didn’t hurt Pakistan as they were able to accomplish the target with 57 balls to spare and lost only their skipper Sarfraz Ahmed to Sodhi when they needed six runs. With the triumph, Pakistan also drew level in the series with one match remaining to be played. Most importantly, they were able to cease their 12-match losing streak against the Kiwis in ODIs.
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