CHRISTCHURCH: Pakistan’s spinners spun a web around New Zealand to avoid the series whitewash as they registered a 42-run win in the fifth T20 at the Hagley Oval on Sunday.
Pakistan were 4-0 down in the series before the match, however, they turned things around and defended the lowest successful total in New Zealand as well as bowled the hosts out under 100 for the second time at home.
New Zealand while chasing a modest 135 lost their opening batter Rachin Ravindra, who replaced Daryl Mitchell, with only 12 runs on the board.
Finn Allen was then sent back to the pavilion by Zaman Khan after scoring 22 off 19, with the help of three boundaries and one six.
Tim Seifert and Will Young then stitched a brief yet anchoring 23 partnership to stabilize their side before Mohammad Nawaz struck to dismiss the latter.
Young scored 12 off 11, followed by Mark Chapman’s run out, which reduced New Zealand to 54-4 inside 11 overs.
The hosts failed to recover as they kept losing wickets at an alarming rate and slipped to 72-8 after Iftikhar Ahmed bowled a two-wicket over, dismissing Matt Henry and Ish Sodhi.
Meanwhile, Glenn Phillips held on to one end, scoring an anchoring 26-run knock from 22 balls, featuring only one four and one six before Abbas Afridi caught him off Shaheen Afridi.
Afridi castled Lockie Ferguson on the next ball to wrap up the New Zealand innings at 92, which is the Black Caps’ second-lowest T20I total at home.
Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel
Iftikhar Ahmed led the bowling with figures of 3-24, while Mohammad Nawaz and Shaheen Afridi picked two wickets each.
Earlier in the day, Pakistan opted to bat first after winning the toss and lost debutant Haseebullah Khan on the third ball of the innings.
Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam then raised a cautious 53-run stand for the second wicket with the former scoring the majority of runs.
Azam (13) was removed by Ish Sodhi, who returned to the team after missing the fourth T20I.
Fakhar Zaman joined Rizwan and played a quick cameo of 33 off 16, featuring one boundary and four sixes before felling prey to Sodhi.
Rizwan also departed in the next over after scoring a run-a-ball 38 with the help of four boundaries.
Sahibzada Farhan then scored 19 off 14 before Abbas Afridi played a 14-run cameo off six balls to push Pakistan’s total to 134-8 in their allocated 20 overs.
Tim Southee, Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi and Lockie Ferguson picked two wickets each for New Zealand.
READ: Donovan Ferreira muscles Super Kings to thrash Capitals in SA20
The post Pakistan spin web to avoid whitewash against New Zealand appeared first on ASports.tv.
from A Sports | Cricket Live Score, Rankings, Fixtures and Results https://ift.tt/MEd6Lcu