An inexperienced New Zealand survived Iftikhar Ahmed’s late onslaught to snatch a stunning four-run win against Pakistan and keep alive their five-match Twenty20 series on Monday.
Iftikhar smacked six sixes and three fours and nearly sealed the series 3-0 for Pakistan with a blistering 60 off 24 balls. But New Zealand medium-pacer James Neesham kept his nerve in the final over and Pakistan was dismissed for 159.
Captain Tom Latham, leading New Zealand in the absence of eight frontline players busy in the Indian Premier League, anchored the Kiwis to 163-5 with a brilliant 64 off 49 balls.
“We were pleased to get a competitive total and it’s satisfying to get across the line and keep the series alive,” Latham said. “The whole squad will take a lot of confidence from this match moving forward.”
New Zealand (20 ovs maximum)
| BATTING | R | B | M | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Latham (c)† | c †Mohammad Rizwan b Haris Rauf | 64 | 49 | 92 | 7 | 2 | 130.61 |
| Chad Bowes | b Shaheen Shah Afridi | 7 | 9 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 77.77 |
| Will Young | c Fakhar Zaman b Shadab Khan | 17 | 15 | 28 | 2 | 1 | 113.33 |
| Daryl Mitchell | c Fakhar Zaman b Shaheen Shah Afridi | 33 | 26 | 37 | 2 | 1 | 126.92 |
| Mark Chapman | not out | 16 | 9 | 25 | 1 | 1 | 177.77 |
| James Neesham | c Fakhar Zaman b Haris Rauf | 10 | 6 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 166.66 |
| Rachin Ravindra | not out | 8 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 133.33 |
| Extras | (b 1, w 7) | 8 | |||||
| TOTAL | 20 Ov (RR: 8.15) | 163/5 | |||||
| Did not bat: Adam Milne, Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi, Ben Lister | |||||||
| Fall of wickets: 1-20 (Chad Bowes, 2.6 ov), 2-56 (Will Young, 8.3 ov), 3-121 (Daryl Mitchell, 15.4 ov), 4-128 (Tom Latham, 16.4 ov), 5-149 (James Neesham, 18.4 ov) • DRS |
| BOWLING | O | M | R | W | ECON | 0s | 4s | 6s | WD | NB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shaheen Shah Afridi | 4 | 0 | 33 | 2 | 8.25 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Naseem Shah | 4 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 7.50 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Faheem Ashraf | 2 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 6.00 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Haris Rauf | 4 | 0 | 31 | 2 | 7.75 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Shadab Khan | 4 | 0 | 34 | 1 | 8.50 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Imad Wasim | 2 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 11.00 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Pakistan (T: 164 runs from 20 ovs)
| BATTING | R | B | M | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mohammad Rizwan † | run out (Bowes) | 6 | 10 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 60.00 |
| Babar Azam (c) | c Ravindra b Milne | 1 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 16.66 |
| Fakhar Zaman | st †Latham b Ravindra | 17 | 22 | 38 | 0 | 1 | 77.27 |
| Saim Ayub | c †Latham b Neesham | 10 | 10 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Shadab Khan | c Chapman b Milne | 16 | 19 | 36 | 1 | 0 | 84.21 |
| Imad Wasim | c Neesham b Ravindra | 3 | 5 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 60.00 |
| Shaheen Shah Afridi | lbw b Sodhi | 6 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Iftikhar Ahmed | c Mitchell b Neesham | 60 | 24 | 43 | 3 | 6 | 250.00 |
| Faheem Ashraf | c Mitchell b Henry | 27 | 14 | 23 | 2 | 2 | 192.85 |
| Naseem Shah | not out | 0 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Haris Rauf | c Bowes b Neesham | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | (lb 7, nb 1, w 5) | 13 | |||||
| TOTAL | 20 Ov (RR: 7.95) | 159 | |||||
| Fall of wickets: 1-6 (Babar Azam, 1.5 ov), 2-17 (Mohammad Rizwan, 3.4 ov), 3-39 (Saim Ayub, 7.1 ov), 4-45 (Fakhar Zaman, 8.3 ov), 5-55 (Imad Wasim, 10.2 ov), 6-64 (Shaheen Shah Afridi, 11.5 ov), 7-88 (Shadab Khan, 14.1 ov), 8-149 (Faheem Ashraf, 18.3 ov), 9-159 (Iftikhar Ahmed, 19.4 ov), 10-159 (Haris Rauf, 19.6 ov) • DRS |
| BOWLING | O | M | R | W | ECON | 0s | 4s | 6s | WD | NB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matt Henry | 4 | 0 | 27 | 1 | 6.75 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Adam Milne | 4 | 0 | 37 | 2 | 9.25 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Ben Lister | 2 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 5.50 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Ish Sodhi | 3 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 3.66 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| James Neesham | 4 | 0 | 38 | 3 | 9.50 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Rachin Ravindra | 3 | 0 | 28 | 2 | 9.33 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
MATCH FLOW
- New Zealand innings
- Powerplay: Overs 0.1 – 6.0 (Mandatory – 35 runs, 1 wicket)
- Over 0.5: Review by Pakistan (Bowling), Decision Challenged – Wicket, Umpire – Ahsan Raza, Batter – TWM Latham (Struck down – Umpires Call)
- Over 1.1: Review by Pakistan (Bowling), Decision Challenged – Wicket, Umpire – Faisal Afridi, Batter – CJ Bowes (Struck down)
- Over 6.1: Review by Pakistan (Bowling), Decision Challenged – Wicket, Umpire – Ahsan Raza, Batter – TWM Latham (Struck down)
- New Zealand: 50 runs in 7.3 overs (45 balls), Extras 5
- Drinks: New Zealand – 64/2 in 10.0 overs (TWM Latham 32, DJ Mitchell 3)
- New Zealand: 100 runs in 12.5 overs (77 balls), Extras 5
- 3rd Wicket: 50 runs in 31 balls (TWM Latham 20, DJ Mitchell 30, Ex 0)
- TWM Latham: 50 off 41 balls (6 x 4, 1 x 6)
- New Zealand: 150 runs in 18.5 overs (113 balls), Extras 7
- Innings Break: New Zealand – 163/5 in 20.0 overs (MS Chapman 16, R Ravindra 8)
- Pakistan innings
- Powerplay: Overs 0.1 – 6.0 (Mandatory – 35 runs, 2 wickets)
- Over 4.3: Review by New Zealand (Bowling), Decision Challenged – Wicket, Umpire – Ahsan Raza, Batter – Saim Ayub (Struck down)
- Pakistan: 50 runs in 8.6 overs (55 balls), Extras 8
- Drinks: Pakistan – 54/4 in 10.0 overs (Shadab Khan 9, Imad Wasim 3)
- Over 11.5: Review by Pakistan (Batting), Decision Challenged – Wicket, Umpire – Faisal Afridi, Batter – Shaheen Shah Afridi (Struck down – Umpires Call)
- Pakistan: 100 runs in 15.2 overs (93 balls), Extras 12
- 8th Wicket: 50 runs in 23 balls (Iftikhar Ahmed 32, Faheem Ashraf 21, Ex 0)
- Iftikhar Ahmed: 50 off 20 balls (2 x 4, 5 x 6)
- Pakistan: 150 runs in 19.1 overs (116 balls), Extras 13
