Shaheen Afridi’s 3 wickets in his first 2 overs were not enough for Pakistan to win their 1st match in this Pakistan vs New Zealand t20i series. Black Caps won 4th match of this series and now will be eying on series clean sweep.
Highlights of the Match:
New Zealand won the toss and decided to field first. Pakistan did not start well as Saim Ayub got out early after making only 1 run. Muhammad Rizwan was the only stand out performer from the Pakistan side. He batted responsibly and scored 90 runs on 63 balls. He was not out at the end of the innings. No other batter could live upto expectation. At the end of the innings Muhammad Nawaz played a little camyo as he scored 21 runs on just 9 balls including 3 sixes.
Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson bowled economically getting 2 wickets each. Pakistan team scored 158/5 in 20 overs which was not a par score by keeping in mind New Zealand team batting performances in previous games in this series.
New Zealand chasing started with the fall of wickets up front as Shaheen Afridi took 3 wickets (Finn Allen, Tim Seifert and Will Young) in his first 2 overs. But after that Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Philips took all the pressure on their shoulders and batted magnificently well helping their country to win this match easily. Mitchell scored 72 runs on 44 balls including 7 fours and 2 sixes while Philips scored 70 runs on 52 balls including 5 fours and 3 sixes. Both remained not out at the end of the match.
Home side chased the target in the 18th over as the final score was 159/3 in 18.1 overs. In this Pakistan vs New Zealand series Black Caps are on the driving seat with 4-0.
Pakistan team have not won a single match since they were eliminated from the 50-over world cup 2023 in the group stages. Before this t20i series in New Zealand, Pakistan toured Australia and played a 3-match test series in which they lost all 3 matches. So they need to regroup their game plan to be on the winning track again.
Man of the Match:
For his great batting performance Daryl Mitchell was given Man of the Match award.
Schedule of 5th T20i Match:
5th T20i – Pakistan vs New Zealand – January, 21st 2024 at Christchurch