In a game that went through ups and downs for both the sides, a thrilling end saw the Kiwis triumph over Pakistan and bag the series 2-1. The victory margin was seven runs, after the last wicket partnership for Pakistan had been for 103 runs, the second highest number of runs scored in a tenth wicket partnership in the history of ODI cricket.

The Kiwis won the toss at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi and as expected, decided to bat first. As has been evident throughout the series, that teams batting first have had an advantage for most part of the game, and hence the decision to opt to bat. And after having scored a century in the previous game, Brendon McCullum looked set for another big score in his first wicket stand of 72 in less than 12 overs with Aaron Redmond.

Redmond was slower off the blocks, and tried to force the pace later, but was caught at the third-man fence for 21. Martin Guptill departed early, but a third wicket stand of 50 took the Kiwis to 138/2 in 26 overs and they looked good for another 300 with the batting Powerplay still to be taken.

It was the dismissal of McCullum for 76 that brought about a stunning collapse in the middle overs. The spinning duo of Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi scalped five wickets between them – four of them lbw and four to Ajmal – as the Kiwis capitulated to 211 all out even before the fifty overs completed. Both Ajmal and Afridi conceded just 33 runs off their ten overs and were the wreckers in chief. 

212 was never going to be a very difficult task if the Pakistanis had applied themselves well, and especially not after the opening partnership had added 47 in 50 balls. However, Khalid Latif’s dismissal brought about a string of wickets with it. Salman Butt was run-out i a misunderstanding with Younus Khan, and off the very next ball, the captain edged the Shane Bond delivery to the slips. 47/0 had become 51/3, and that brought about the kind of pressure that ensured some really atrocious stroke-play from the batsmen. 

Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi and Kamran Akmal were all out in a hurry, and when Abdul Razzaq got run-out in a manner that was very un-international-like, Pakistan was 86/8 and out of the game. Umar Gul pottered around to get the score beyond 100, but he was consumed by Jacob Oram and when the last wicket pair of Mohammad Aamer and Saeed Ajmal walked in, there were 111 runs to get off 101 balls. 

As it turned out, the pair began by hitting out. Aamer smashed three sixes in one over from Vettori, and then in the batting Powerplay, 34 runs came to bring the Pakistanis closer. As the pair got closer the tension grew for the Kiwis, and this could be seen in their fielding as extras began to get conceded. In the end, the Pakistanis needed eight runs to win the game, off the last over, but Ajmal holed out; Kiwis winning by seven. Aamer scored an unbeaten 73, the highest score by a number ten batsman, beating Douglas Marillier’s 56.