Pakistan beat New Zealand 4-1 in the last Twenty20 International match of their five-match series played in Christchurch on Sunday. The Black Caps dominated the Green Shirts in the first four games. As a weaker New Zealand batting order struggled against the turning ball and were skittled for their eighth-lowest T20 score, part-time offspinner Iftikhar Ahmed delivered career-best figures of 3-24.
Pakistan beat New Zealand in final T20I to avoid whitewash
In easily their greatest bowling performance of the series, Pakistan took the final eight wickets for 39 runs, with only openers Finn Allen (22) and Glenn Phillips (26) above 20. Rachin Ravindra and Will Young were easily removed by left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz (2-18), while Shaheen Shah Afridi had cause for celebration after his first series as captain, taking 2-20. Three of New Zealand’s first-choice hitters were not available: Daryl Mitchell (resting), Devon Conway (Covid-19), and Kane Williamson (knee injury).
Earlier, when the home team contained Pakistan’s hitters with yet another disciplined bowling performance, it seemed they had done enough to strive for a clean sweep. Along with spinner Ish Sodhi, seamers Tim Southee, Matt Henry, and Lockie Ferguson each got two wickets.
The leading wicket-taker in Twenty20 cricket, Southee (2-19), first removed rookie Haseebullah Khan in the first over before coming back in the 13th over to remove the dangerous Fakhar Zaman, who had sprinted to 33 off 16 balls. Soon after, top scorer Mohammad Rizwan left for 38 off 38, which ultimately condemned Pakistan to the lowest first-inning total by either side in the series.
