LAHORE: New Zealand returned to the series by winning the third T20I of the five-match series against Pakistan by four runs at the Gaddafi Stadium here on Monday night.
Electing to bat, the visitors scored 163 for five in their quota of overs and Pakistan initially responded slowly but aggressively and eventually collapsed to 159 for all out. Thanks to the combined efforts of Iftikhar Ahmed and Faheem Ashraf, Pakistan almost pulled off a sensation. But the green team could not meet the time demands and lost all their wickets in the last ball when five runs were required from the last ball.
Iftikhar completed the fourth half-century of his T20 career in an attempt to meet the target and was caught out on the fourth ball of the last over. He scored 60 runs in 24 balls. His six sixes and three fours were not enough to save Pakistan’s embarrassment. While the last player Naseem Shah faced three dot balls and thus failed to hit the big target when it was needed the most while Haris Rauf also ducked two balls.
Pakistan was on the verge of losing the game but Adam Milne’s 23 runs in the 18th over was the turning stage of the match in which Faheem hit three sixes and a four while in the 19th over Pakistan lost eight runs and the wicket of Faheem.
At that time, Pakistan needed 15 runs in the last over, in which Iftikhar hit a six and a four off the alternate balls, Pakistan faced a deficit of five runs. But main man Iftikhar got out on the fourth ball leaving Naseem and Rauf to do the essentials. Five runs needed, Pakistan were looking for a six and Rauf tried his best but the hit landed in the safe hands of Boaz at deep mid-wicket and it was all over for Pakistan. New Zealand, who lost the first two matches by 88 and 38 runs respectively, are now keeping their hopes alive in the series. The teams will now travel to Rawalpindi on Tuesday to complete the five-match series with two matches to be played at the Pindi Stadium on April 20 and 24, followed by a five-match ODI series.
It was a contrast to the style Pakistan had shown in their last two matches when Iftikhar and Faheem did not play the role of saviour, the match was clearly slipping away. Their key players in captain Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan failed to middle the ball. Babar was the first to be dismissed for just one run by Adam Milne in the second over, while Rizwan, who had a back strain, was run out for six in the fourth over. The initial blow to Pakistan’s batting put the onus on Fakhar Zaman and Saeem Ayub escaped an lbw call by Milne when they were on two runs.
When Pakistan reached 39, Simeem failed to read James Neesham’s delivery and had to return to his personal 10 and Pakistan were in dire straits. As the required run rate was around 10 and swelling, Pakistan were reeling at an average of around five runs and getting the target looked like a distant dream. Because after adding a few more runs, Fakhar was stumped yards away from the crease. Ravindra cheats Fakhir while Latham does the rest. Fakhar scored 17 runs in 22 balls.
With 10 more runs added to the total, newcomer Imad Wasim dropped Shadab and Pakistan were 55 for five in the 11th over. Shaheen Shah Afridi, who replaced the outgoing Imad (3), scored maximum runs in just six balls at the crease.
Shadab and Iftikhar Ahmed combined to score 15 runs in the 14th over with two sixes off Ravindra to give the team hope with some big hits. Iftikhar’s two hits, one to long-on and the other to mid-wicket, delighted the crowd. But on the very first ball of the 15th over, Shadab became Pakistan’s seventh victim at the score of 88.
However, a cameo from Iftikhar and Faheem Ashraf gave Pakistan a 26-ball 61-run partnership that swung the match in Pakistan’s favour. But later batsmen Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf succumbed to the pressure and lost the game.
For New Zealand, James Neesham took three wickets, Rachin Ravindra and Adam Milne took two each and Matt Henry and Ash Sodhi took one wicket each. Earlier, New Zealand batted much better than in the previous two matches. He started his campaign slowly in the early part of the innings and after half the overs he started hitting big boundaries. Tom Latham was the biggest destroyer of the Kiwi batting line-up.
Batting cautiously, he first adjusted by understanding the conditions and the flow of the wicket and then showed his batting skills. But in the build-up to his innings, he lost two of his teammates.
First he saw the departure of Chad Bowes and a few overs later Will Young became the second Kiwi victim. Shaheen Shah Afridi clean bowled Bowes (7, 9b 1×4), when New Zealand were on 20 by the end of the third over. Later in the ninth over, Young tried to hit Shadab to long-on but found Fakhar Zaman on the way and New Zealand were now two down on 56. Young scored 17 runs in 15 balls. Three range supports, one of which was max.
However, Latham found a useful partner in Daryl Mitchell and the duo put on 65 runs for the third wicket. He scored New Zealand’s 50 in the first 7.3 overs and then reached 100 in 12.5 overs. In this development. Latham also completed his third career half-century off 41 balls. And before the two could add to the score, Mitchell conceded his wicket after a 26-ball 33 with a big effort on a slow delivery from Shaheen. The breakthrough came at the right time for Pakistan as the partnership was becoming more effective for the Kiwis. Mitchell hit two fours and a six.
In the very next over, Haris Rauf took Pakistan’s most important wicket. Latham was looking to quicken the score but the ball took a big outside edge only to Rizwan who stayed behind the stumps. Latham scored 65 runs in his 49-ball innings with the help of seven fours and two sixes.
A sudden break was put on New Zealand’s score when they were 128 for four by the 17th over. James Neesham later gifted Rauf his second wicket after adding 10 runs to the total, just one run short of New Zealand’s 150.
Mark Chapman and Rachin Ravindra remained not out till the end of the innings for New Zealand who had plenty of runs on the board to fight for. Chapman scored 16 off just nine balls with one maximum and one minimum, while Ravindra scored eight off six balls. Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf took two wickets each and Shadab Khan took one wicket. Earlier, New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat first. Two changes were made to the visiting team for today’s match. Adam Milne and Ash Sodhi returned to the team.
Babar Azam, however, made one change to the playing XI as Zaman Khan was rested and Naseem Shah was given a place in the team.
