Riding on unbeaten half-centuries from Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips, New Zealand recovered from a poor start to thrash Pakistan by 7 wickets in the NZ vs PAK 4th T20I at the Hagley Oval on Friday (January 19). With the victory, New Zealand took a 4-0 lead in the five-match series.
Chasing 159, New Zealand got off to a disastrous start with Shaheen Afridi ruining their top order in three overs. Last match’s centurion Finn Allen got going hitting the Pakistan captain for two fours before the latter returned him off the fourth ball of the first over.
On the last ball of the same over, Afridi struck once again to dismiss Tim Seifert for a duck before dismissing Will Young for 4 in the third over to leave New Zealand reeling at 20 for 3 in the third over. The tourists, however, could not take advantage of the good start and were unable to take more wickets in the game.
Both batsmen were cautious at first as New Zealand finished the powerplay at 38 for 3. They collected 32 runs from the next four overs to take their team to 70 for 3 at the halfway mark. The duo soon shifted gears and put New Zealand in the driver’s seat. The Black Caps finally reached the target in 18.1 overs. Mitchell remained unbeaten on 72 off 44 balls, while Phillips scored 70 off 52 balls.
New Zealand vs PAK: Pakistan innings:
Early in the game, Pakistan scored 158 for 5 in the allotted 20 overs after New Zealand won the toss and opted to bowl first. The Men in Green again got off to a poor start as Matt Henry dismissed young opener Saim Ayub for just 1.
Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam steadied the ship with a 51-run stand before Adam Milne dismissed the latter for 19. With the likes of Fakhar Zaman (9) and Sahibzada Farhan (1) also failing with the bat, the visitors found themselves themselves reeling at 86 for 4 after 13 overs.
Lockie Ferguson on the board! Fakhar Zaman was caught well at deep by Mark Chapman and Pakistan are three down. Follow the game LIVE and free in New Zealand on TVNZ 1 and TVNZ+ 📺 LIVE Score | #NZvPAK #CricketNation pic.twitter.com/IAmpbPqFPG
– BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) January 19, 2024
Rizwan, however, stood firm on his part to ensure that Pakistan finished with a competitive total. He shared a 40-run stand with Iftikhar Ahmed (10) for the fifth wicket to steady the ship. Mohammad Nawaz then came up with a superb cameo of 21 runs off just 9 balls to help Pakistan finish strongly.
In the 19th over, the bowling all-rounder hit Milne for three sixes in a row to help his team cross the 150-run mark. Rizwan was his team’s top scorer, scoring 90 off 63 balls with the help of 6 fours and 2 sixes.
Brief scores: Pakistan 158/5 in 20 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 90*; Matt Henry 2-22) lost to New Zealand 159/3 in 18.1 overs (Daryl Mitchell 72*, Glenn Phillips 70*; Shaheen Afridi 3 -34 ) for 7 wickets.