On Saturday (April 5), New Zealand quick Ben Sears took a second consecutive five-wicket haul in ODI cricket, to join an elite list of bowlers.
New Zealand were asked to bat first in a rain-shortened 42-overs per side affair in Mount Maunganui, and put up an imposing 264-8, thanks to opener Rhys Mariu's 58 and skipper Michael Bracewell's quickfire 59. For Pakistan, Akif Javed took 4-62.
3rd ODI, New Zealand vs Pakistan
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- Ball by ball Over
The visitors lost Imam-ul-Haq to a freak injury early on, and he had to be replaced by Usman Khan. In keeping with the trend on this tour, Pakistan's chase never got off the ground as they crumbled to 221 all out in 40 overs.
Ben Sears takes two five-wicket hauls in a row
New Zealand's standout bowler was Ben Sears, who took 5-34 in his nine overs, removing Abdullah Shafique and Salman Ali Agha before polishing off the tail with the wickets of Naseem Shah, Mohammad Wasim and Sufiyan Muqeem.
Read more: Predictable, chaotic, mediocre: Pakistan's tailspin shows no signs of an upward turn
This was Sears' second consecutive five-wicket haul in ODIs, following his 5-59 in the previous match in Hamilton. He is now the first man from New Zealand to take back-to-back five-wicket hauls in ODIs, and the 14th man overall.
Before these two innings, Sears had bowled just twice in ODI cricket, returning figures of 0-39 against Pakistan and 0-65 against South Africa, both in Lahore during the pre-Champions Trophy tri-series.
Bowlers to take consecutive five-fors in men's ODIs, full list
| Player | Team | ODI Inns No. | 1st 5WI | 2nd 5WI | Year |
| Gary Gilmour | Australia | 3-4 | 6-14 | 5-48 | 1975 |
| Ashantha de Mel | Sri Lanka | 19-20 | 5-39 | 5-32 | 1983 |
| Waqar Younis | Pakistan | 20-21 | 6-26 | 5-20 | 1990 |
| Waqar Younis | Pakistan | 24-25 | 5-11 | 5-16 | 1990 |
| Waqar Younis | Pakistan | 25-26 | 5-16 | 5-52 | 1990 |
| Aaqib Javed | Pakistan | 134-135 | 5-35 | 5-61 | 1997 |
| Saqlain Mushtaq | Pakistan | 57-58 | 5-38 | 5-45 | 1997 |
| Azhar Mahmood | Pakistan | 73-74 | 6-18 | 5-28 | 1999 |
| Waqar Younis | Pakistan | 211-212 | 7-36 | 6-59 | 2001 |
| Ryan Harris | Australia | 2-3 | 5-43 | 5-19 | 2010 |
| Brian Vitori | Zimbabwe | 1-2 | 5-30 | 5-20 | 2011 |
| Mitchell Starc | Australia | 16-17 | 5-20 | 5-32 | 2013 |
| Mustafizur Rahman | Bangladesh | 1-2 | 5-50 | 6-43 | 2015 |
| Mustafizur Rahman | Bangladesh | 52-53 | 5-59 | 5-75 | 2019 |
| Shaheen Shah Afridi | Pakistan | 18-19 | 6-35 | 5-49 | 2019-2020 |
| Naseem Shah | Pakistan | 3-4 | 5-33 | 5-57 | 2022-2023 |
| Wanindu Hasaranga | Sri Lanka | 41-42 | 6-24 | 5-13 | 2023 |
| Wanindu Hasaranga | Sri Lanka | 42-43 | 5-13 | 5-79 | 2023 |
| Ben Sears | New Zealand | 3-4 | 5-59 | 5-34 | 2025 |
-Brian Vitori and Mustafizur Rahman are the only two to start their career with consecutive five-wicket hauls.
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