Pakistan salvages win in Christchurch, avoids T20 rout

• Pakistan won its last match by 42 runs, avoiding a clean sweep.
• New Zealand secures a series victory despite Pakistan’s consolation win.
• Iftikhar Ahmed claims 3-24 in 4 overs for Pakistan.

Pakistan avoided a rout in the Twenty20 International series against New Zealand on Sunday in Christchurch, winning by 42 runs.

After winning each of the first four games with great ease, New Zealand went on to win the series 4-1.

In 17.2 overs, New Zealand was dismissed for 92 runs while chasing a 135-run mark.

At one point, New Zealand was 53-2, but they had a significant collapse and were bowled out in 20 overs.

With stats of 3-24 in four overs, Pakistan’s best bowler was off-spinner Iftikhar Ahmed. Mohammad Nawaz, an all-rounder, and captain Shaheen Afridi each claimed two wickets.

At 26 runs in 22 balls, Glenn Phillips led the home team in scoring.

After winning the toss, Pakistan struggled to reach 134-8 as another disciplined New Zealand bowling display hindered their attempts to rally from a poor start.

Along with spinner Ish Sodhi, seamers Tim Southee, Matt Henry, and Lockie Ferguson all grabbed two wickets, putting the Black Caps in a position to finish a 5-0 series rout.

Southee, who holds the record for most wickets taken in Twenty20 cricket, gave New Zealand an early advantage when he dismissed Haseebullah Khan, a rookie, in the game’s first over.

In the thirteenth over, Southee made a comeback to dismiss the dangerous Fakhar Zaman, who had quickly reached 33 off 16 balls.

Soon after, top scorer Mohammad Rizwan left the game with 38 off 38, ultimately causing Pakistan to register the lowest first-inning total by either side in the series.

Important batsman Babar Azam was out of sorts, battling to just 13 off 24 balls after being dropped twice by Mark Chapman.

In game four played on Friday at the same Hagley Oval, the tourists made three changes to the squad that was defeated by seven wickets.

After playing in the first two games, seamer Abbas Afridi and legspinner Usama Mir were recalled, and twenty-year-old Khan began the batting in place of Saim Ayub.

Two changes were made by New Zealand, one of which was the recall of all-rounder Rachin Ravindra, who hasn’t played much since his outrageous run-scoring exploits in the 50-over World Cup in India last year.

Adam Milne, a pace bowler, was replaced by legspinner Sodhi in place of Daryl Mitchell, who is on leave.

Also Read

Abbas Afridi to miss third T20 match against New Zealand

Abbas Afridi is out for the T20I vs. New Zealand. Afridi's availability...