Pakistan snatch 42-run win over New Zealand in fifth T20 to avoid clean sweep

CHRISTCHURCH (Agencies): Pakistan’s spinners ran through New Zealand to pick up a consolation 42-run win in the fifth and final Twenty20 international on Sunday and avoid a series clean sweep. The tourists lost the five-match series 4-1 but it ended on a positive note as they dismissed the Black Caps for a paltry 92 in defence of 134-8. Part-time offspinner Iftikhar Ahmed produced career-best figures of 3-24 as a weakened New Zealand batting lineup struggled against the turning ball and were skittled for their eighth-lowest T20 total. Only opener Finn Allen (22) and Glenn Phillips (26) passed 20 as Pakistan claimed the last eight wickets for 39 runs in comfortably their best bowling display of the series. Left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz (2-18) was effective with the new ball, removing Rachin Ravindra and Will Young cheaply, while Shaheen Shah Afridi had something to cheer at the end of his maiden series as captain, taking 2-20. New Zealand were missing three of their first-choice batters: Kane Williamson (knee injury), Devon Conway (Covid-19) and Daryl Mitchell (rested). Earlier, it appeared the home side had done enough to push for a clean sweep when they restricted Pakistan’s batters with another disciplined bowling display. Seamers Tim Southee, Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson all claimed two scalps, along with spinner Ish Sodhi. Southee (2-19), the highest wicket-taker in T20 cricket, dismissed debutant Haseebullah Khan in the opening over and returned in the 13th over to remove the dangerous Fakhar Zaman, who had raced to 33 off 16 balls. Top-scorer Mohammad Rizwan departed soon afterwards for 38 off 38, ultimately consigning Pakistan to the lowest first-innings score by either team in the series.

Shaheen relieved: Shaheen Shah Afridi said it was “very important” his team avoided a whitewash series loss to New Zealand. He said the series was primarily seen as a chance to build towards the T20 World Cup in June but it would have been a setback to lose five from five. “Today’s game was very important for us. We needed that as a unit to step forward,” Shaheen said. “In the first four games, there were a lot of collapses, as a fielding unit, as a batting unit, but I think today we played as a team and we needed that win. It’s not easy for any team to come here. And I think our mind is on the World Cup. We’re just checking out every spot for every player and giving chances to youngsters.” Meanwhile, New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner said their poor chase exposed some chinks. “We’ve looked pretty good batting first and defending but, looking at today, we may need a bit of work chasing,” he said. “In a chase like that, we talk about taking it as deep as we can and we didn’t do that. “But all in all a pretty good series. There were good signs, different guys stepping up at different times and that’s what you want,” he added.

SCOREBOARD

PAKISTAN INNINGS

Haseebullah Khan c Phillips b Southee         0

Mohammad Rizwan c Ravindra b Henry      38

Babar Azam c Phillips b Sodhi 13

Fakhar Zaman c Ferguson b Southee  33

Mohammad Nawaz c Southee b Sodhi 1

Iftikhar Ahmed c Young b Ferguson   5

Sahibzada Farhan c Phillips b Ferguson       19

Shaheen Shah Afridi c Ravindra b Henry     1

Abbas Afridi not out       15

Usama Mir not out 1

Did not bat: Zaman Khan

EXTRAS (B 4, LB 4)     8

TOTAL (20 overs)         134-8

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-0, 2-53, 3-88, 4-91, 5-91, 6-104, 7-114, 8-130

BOWLING

Tim Southee          4-1-19-2

Matt Henry 4-0-30-2

Mitchell Santner   4-0-30-0

Lockie Ferguson   4-0-25-2

Ish Sodhi     4-0-22-2

NEW ZEALAND INNINGS

Finn Allen c Haseebullah b Zaman     22

Rachin Ravindra c Zaman b Nawaz    1

Tim Seifert lbw b Iftikhar         19

Will Young c Iftikhar b Nawaz 12

Mark Chapman run out   1

Glenn Phillips c Abbas b Shaheen      26

Mitchell Santner c & b Usama 4

Matt Henry c & b Iftikhar         1

Ish Sodhi c Fakhar b Iftikhar    1

Tim Southee not out       4

Lockie Ferguson b Shaheen      0

EXTRAS (LB 1)   1

TOTAL (17.2 overs)      92

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-12, 2-30, 3-53, 4-54, 5-64, 6-69, 7-70, 8-72, 9-92, 10-92

BOWLING

Shaheen Shah Afridi       3.2-0-20-2

Mohammad Nawaz         4-0-18-2

Zaman Khan         1-0-4-1

Usama Mir  4-0-21-1

Abbas Afridi         1-0-4-0

Iftikhar Ahmed     4-0-24-3

Umpires: Chris Brown, Wayne Knights

TV umpire: Kim Cotton

Match referee: Jeff Crowe