LAHORE: The Kiwis wobbled in the chase of 179 runs as their batsmen capitulated under pressure against Shaheen Shah Afrid and spin trio of Usama Mir, Shadab Khan and Imad Wasim as they fell 9 runs short to give Pakistan a face saving win to draw the five-match series 2-2 at the Gaddafi Stadium on Saturday night.
Interestingly, it was for the third match in a row that the opposition was set a target of 179 and it was only surpassed once in the third T20I at Rawalpindi when New Zealand overhauled the target against Pakistan. On the other two occasions (both at Gaddafi stadium), Pakistan (174) and New Zealand failed to cross the line.
Chasing 179, Tim Seifert had played a brisk knock of 52 (33) in the top-order but his fall in the ninth over open flood gates for the Pakistani bowlers as no other batsman could capitalize on the early advantage. Only captain Michael Bracewell 23 (21) and Clarkson 38 (26) showed some resistance and purpose while the other batters fell cheaply to leave New Zealand in a whole. Tom Blundel 4 (4), Mark Chapman 12 (12), Cole McConchie 1(2), James Neesham 16 (8), Ish Sodhi 3 (4), Zakaray Foulkes 0 (1), Ben Sears 6 (7) and R’ourke 0 (0) were the other contributors.
It was Usama Mir who wove a web of spin against the Kiwis and claimed back to back wickets in his second and third over. Mir bowled a wicket-maiden over in which he claimed the wicket of Seifert while he also got the better of Chapman in his third and 11th of the innings.
Shaheen Shah Afridi was the most successful bowler for Pakistan and claimed four wickets for 30 runs. Afridi, who had claimed yet another wicket today in his first over, decimated the New Zealand batting line-up as he claimed three wickets in his last two overs. Shadab Khan conceded 15 runs in his two overs and picked an all-important scalp of Bracewell. Imad Wasim also chipped in with a first ball wicket in his only over for five runs. Abbas Afridi was expensive in his two overs and conceded 24 runs.
Mohammad Amir was the most expensive bowler and was taken to the cleaners by Time Seifert in his opening spell as he conceded 29 runs. He bled 10 runs in his third over but defended 12 off the last over of the match courtesy two run outs. Overall, Mohammad Amir gave away 41 runs off his 3.2 overs.
Earlier, Pakistan had yet another unsatisfactory start to the innings when Saim fell cheaply. Babar Azam and Usman Khan notched up a useful partnership of 73 runs off 44 balls for the second wicket after Pakistan lost an early wicket when Saim Ayub fell for 1 (5) in the second over the Pakistan innings. Babar Azam 69 (44) hit first fifty of the series and anchored the innings to good effect.
Fakhar Zaman had a torrid time at the crease early on but picked runs in a flurry after the departure of Babar Azam in the 15th over the innings with score at 123-3. He scored 43 (33). It was Shadab Khan who played a quickfire 15 off five balls and took Pakistan to an identical total for the second time in a row. Iftikhar Ahmed could not impress throughout the series and scored 6 runs off 7 balls.
O’Rourke was once again impressive with the ball and conceded only 25 runs for one wicket, while Zakaray Foulkes, Ben Sears, Ish Sodhi and James Neesham claimed one wicket among themselves.
Shaheen Shah Afridi was adjudged Player of the Match for his match-defining spell of 30-4 and Man of the Series for his eight wickets in three matches.