Pakistan's cricket board unsuccessfully tried to postpone the fourth one-day international against New Zealand this morning, in the wake of the Peshawar school horror.
Captain Younis Khan said on the match's eve that it should not go ahead, and the Pakistan Cricket Board agreed, but in a statement the PCB said they were "constrained by the broadcaster's commitment as well as for cricketing reasons advised by New Zealand management".
Those "cricketing reasons" weren't explained in the statement, but NZC later clarified, saying the reference was related to time constraints, with the Black Caps amid a tight schedule as they fly home after Saturday's tour finale to prepare for the Boxing Day test against Sri Lanka in Christchurch next week.
An NZC spokesman said chief executive David White contacted his PCB counterpart yesterday to offer to help in any way they could. The offer was well received. White had said he would be guided by the PCB as to whether the match went ahead.
Had they been forced to cancel one of the final two matches, the PCB may have found the financial loss to be too great.
A PCB spokesman said in a statement that their players were in no state to take the field.
"We tried our best to postpone the fourth ODI," the PCB said.
"We are playing outside Pakistan only because of the threat of terrorism at home. If we allow terrorists to disrupt our matches abroad, then all will be lost."
Players from both sides wore black armbands and observed two minutes silence before play. Some Pakistan players were noticeably affected, with batsman Ahmed Shehzad in tears and Younis, who earlier called for the match to be postponed, also struggling to keep his composure. The Black Caps went on to win the match by seven runs.
The PCB said proceeds from the match would be donated to families of the victims and to help rebuild the school, where more than 140 children and teachers were massacred by the Taliban two days ago.
