Pakistan registered two significant wins in the space of three days in the Men's T20 World Cup 2021. After thrashing India by 10 wickets, they now beat New Zealand by five wickets in Match 19 of the tournament, in Sharjah.
New Zealand hobbled to 134/8 after Babar Azam won the toss and asked them to bat. They got off to a steady start, thanks to a 36-run opening stand between Daryl Mitchell (17) and Martin Guptill (17), but struggled to get going in the middle overs on a slow, low pitch.
The move of promoting Jimmy Neesham at No. 4 did not work at all: he lasted two balls before being holing out to Fakhar Zaman off Mohammad Hafeez. From 54/1, New Zealand slipped to 56/3 in no time.
Kane Williamson and Devon Conway revived New Zealand from there, adding 34 in 24 balls before Hasan Ali pulled off an excellent run out to break the partnership. They never really recovered after that setback, and in the end, limped to a paltry total.
Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf had enjoyed their outing against India two days ago. They impressed here as well. While Shaheen’s figures read 4-1-21-1, Rauf ended with 4-22. Imad Wasim and Shadab Khan also chipped in with seven tight overs.
Coming to chase, Pakistan too struggled to accelerate. Mohammad Rizwan and Babar had batted 107 balls together to see off the target against India, but they only lasted 31 balls together this time, managing just 28. Tim Southee cleaned up Babar, and their next two batters – Fakhar (11) and Hafeez (11) – made little impact with bat.
Rizwan batted resiliently under pressure until Ish Sodhi pinned him leg before to reduce Pakistan to 69/4. Promoting Imad ahead of Asif Ali did not work in their favour. They were left reeling at 87/5 in 14.5 overs, needing 48 in 31 balls.
Sodhi bowled out a quiet 16th over, and the equation came down to 41 off 24 balls. Asif took charge in the next over, smashing Southee for two sixes in successive balls to bring Pakistan back in the hunt. Malik (26*) joined in, hitting Mitchell Santner for a four and a six. Asif (27* in 12 balls) continued to hit out, seeing off the target with eight balls to spare.
Brief Scores: New Zealand 134/8 in 20 overs (Daryl Mitchell 27; Haris Rauf 4-22) lost to Pakistan 135/5 in 18.4 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 33; Ish Sodhi 2-28) by 5 wickets with 8 balls to spare. Player of the Match: Haris Rauf.