Pakistan somehow managed to finish their T20I series against New Zealand 2-2 after they won the final match of the series by 9 runs at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Babar Azam could easily have faced a 1-3 series loss on his return as the national skipper, but the Pakistan bowling unit stepped up under pressure. The Black Caps, in the meantime, would be proud of how they played despite missing out on some of their key players, including Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell and Rachin Ravindra.
PAK vs NZ, 5th T20I Highlights
After being asked to bat first, Pakistan put up a decent score of 178 for 5 on the board. Babar was their standout batter after he scored 69 runs off 44 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes. Scoring a half-century off 35 balls, Babar batted until the 15th over before Ben Sears cleaned him up. Usman Khan and Fakhar Zaman chipped in with useful contributions of 31 and 43 respectively.
Shadab Khan’s 15-run cameo in the death overs injected momentum into the Pakistan innings. Saim Ayub kept struggling at the top of the order as William O’Rourke accounted for his wicket. O’Rourke was the pick of the bowlers for the Kiwis after he finished with figures of 4-0-25-1.
Shaheen Afridi stands out
The Black Caps did not make the best of starts to their run-chase as Tom Blundell fell to Shaheen Shah Afridi, who picked up his 50th wicket in the first over of T20 cricket. Thereafter, skipper Michael Bracewell and Tim Seifert put on 76 runs for the second wicket. Seifert played a brilliant knock of 52 off 33 balls before Usama Mir outfoxed him.
Mark Chapman, who has been a thorn in the flesh for Pakistan in internationals, became Usama’s second victim. Usama finished with figures of 4-1-21-2. However, it was Shaheen who did the damage for New Zealand with a spell of 4-0-30-4.
Josh Clarkson posed a threat to the Men in Green with a knock of 38 runs off 26 balls, laced with 3 fours and 2 sixes, but his efforts went in vain.