Who Is Ben Sears? The New Zealand Pacer Who Rattled Pakistan With A Fifer In 3rd ODI

Ben Sears has picked successive ODI five-wicket hauls. [Source: @ABsay_ek/X]

If a maiden international five-wicket haul against Pakistan in Hamilton wasn’t enough to hog limelight, Ben Sears picked another one against the same opposition in Mount Maunganui to announce his arrival at the highest level. In doing so, he has become the first New Zealand bowler to pick consecutive ODI fifers.

Introduced into the attack as a first-change bowler in the ninth over, Sears bowled four economical overs before drawing first blood. At 72/0 in 16 overs, Pakistan had registered a rare solid start in a 265-run chase in a rain-curtailed encounter at the Bay Oval.

It was at this moment that Sears dismissed Abdullah Shafique in the last over of his first spell. The right-arm pacer kick-started his second spell with the wicket of Agha Salman. With Pakistan needing 55 runs in five overs with four wickets in hand, Sears’ third spell allowed him to wreak havoc on the visitors.

Within 12 balls, he dismissed Naseem Shah, Mohammad Waseem and Sufiqan Muqeem to pick career-best bowling figures of 9-0-34-5. Thereby, bundling out Pakistan for 221 in the third ODI.

Who Is Ben Sears?

Ben Sears, 27, is the son of former Wellington pacer Michael Sears, the last of whose 33 representative matches had come years before the birth of his son. Darren Sears, Ben’s uncle, also played lower-grade representative cricket in New Zealand.

On the back of his ability to bowl express pace, Ben was handed a T20I debut during New Zealand’s tour of Bangladesh 2021 in Mirpur. An injury to Matt Henry made way for a Test debut against Australia in Christchurch last year.

While that remains his only appearance in the format, he has since made his ODI debut. Wicket-less in his first two ODIs during the Pakistan Tri-Nation Series earlier this year, Sears made up for it by picking 10 wickets across two outings during the recently concluded three-match series against Pakistan.

[Ben Sears record in international cricket]

As a result, bagging a maiden Player of the Series award for the Black Caps. Yet to win a match award in international cricket, even that doesn’t seem far away considering his current form. With New Zealand scheduled to tour Zimbabwe next in July, Sears’ recent efforts is likely to earn him a spot in both the T20I and Test squads.

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