Riding on Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips’ unbeaten half-centuries, 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 win, New Zealand have taken a 4-0 lead in the five-match series.
Chasing 159, New Zealand were off to a disastrous start with Shaheen Afridi blowing their top order away inside three overs. Last match’s centurion Finn Allen got going by hitting the Pakistan captain for two fours before the latter sent him back on the fourth ball of the first over.
On the final 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 capitalize on the strong start and failed to take any more wickets in the game.
Both the batsmen were cautious at the start as New Zealand ended the powerplay on 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 shifted gears soon and put New Zealand in the driver’s seat. The Black Caps eventually reached the target in 18.1 overs. Mitchell remained unbeaten on 72 off 44 balls while Phillips scored 70 off 52 balls.
NZ vs PAK: Pakistan innings:
Earlier 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 were off to a poor start once again as young opener Saim Ayub was dismissed by Matt Henry for just 1.
Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam steadied the ship with a 51-run stand before the latter was dismissed by Adam Milne for 19. With the likes of Fakhar Zaman (9) and Sahibzada Farhan (1) failing with the bat as well, the visitors found themselves reeling at 86 for 4 after 13 overs.
Lockie Ferguson on the board! Fakhar Zaman caught well in the deep by Mark Chapman and Pakistan are three down. Follow play LIVE and free in NZ on TVNZ 1 and TVNZ+ 📺 LIVE scoring | https://t.co/o9Xq34Wc2h📲 #NZvPAK #CricketNation pic.twitter.com/IAmpbPqFPG
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) January 19, 2024
Rizwan, however, stood firm at his end to ensure that Pakistan ended up 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 fine cameo of 21 runs from just 9 balls to help Pakistan finish strongly.
In the 19th over, the spin-bowling allrounder hit Milne for three sixes in a row to help his side cross the 150-run mark. Rizwan top-scored for his side, 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) by 7 wickets.
