Pakistan vs New Zealand- In the bustling Gaddafi Stadium, filled with excited fans, Pakistan managed to stay composed. This was to avoid a potentially startling series defeat to a noticeably less robust New Zealand team.
In the final over, two unexpected run-outs occurred. Tailenders Ben Sears and William O’Rourke were outed, thanks to a clever bowl from Mohammad Amir. This surprising turn ended the game in a dramatic twist. Under the guidance of Michael Bracewell, the visiting team pushed Babar Azam’s squad to their limits. Despite a hard-fought match, they still fell short by nine runs.
At first, lead-off hitter Tim Seifert sparked the crowd’s excitement. Then, last-minute hitter Josh Clarkson also gave fans quite a thrill. The home team’s supporters were eagerly hoping for at least an even match in this five-game series. The visiting team, on the other hand, had a challenging run target of 179. They were playing on a demanding pitch that had a little bit of everything to offer.
Pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi, winner of both match and series awards, excelled with his 4-30 show. Yet, other bowlers, too, stepped up when needed. Despite a four concession in the first over, Shaheen cracked Tom Blundell’s defense. His delivery, which subtly diverged, successfully disturbed the timber.
Yet, Seifert thought differently. As the right-handed starter, he confidently made bold moves. He greeted Mohammad Amir with a direct six on the first bowl in the fourth round, followed by two noticeable boundaries. In the next round, he welcomed Abbas Afridi, the wicket-keeper/batter, in a similar way on his first bowl. He added a boundary to this, clearly signaling to the competition that he was ready to speed things up.
New Zealand raced to 63-1 in the First Six overs
Within the first six overs, New Zealand swiftly moved to 63-1. Seifert scored a speedy fifty in just 29 balls during the seventh over. This was his ninth in T20 Internationals. However, he was quickly outdone by skillful leg-spinner Usama Mir in his initial delivery. This gave Pakistan a much-needed sigh of relief. Dagerman Mark Chapman(12 off 12), was struck out by Usama during an attempted sweep. This happened with New Zealand comfortably at 97-2 in the 11th over. This led to a minor setback for New Zealand but it bolstered Pakistan’s belief that they can turn things around.
The game took another turn in the following over. Unexpectedly, Babar caught Bracewell (23 off 21). He was at short mid-wicket, playing against Shadab. Immediately after, McConchie (scoring one), faced a setback. Left-arm spinner, Imad Wasim, caught him off guard with the first ball of the 13th over. This left New Zealand in a difficult spot, at 103-5.
During the 15th round, Shaheen’s excellent performance led to a tough time for New Zealand. The tall fast bowler quickly ousted experienced players James Neesham and Zakary Foulkes. Neesham managed only 16 runs in eight balls, while Foulkes went out without scoring. The situation worsened for New Zealand in the 17th over when Ish Sodhi became Shaheen’s fourth target. As a skilled leg-spinning all-rounder, Sodhi couldn’t resist and New Zealand’s score further dropped to 137-8.
New Zealand seemed on the verge of losing. But there was one more player in the shelter that isn’t very well-known in Pakistan or the rest of the cricket world — Clarkson. Stationed in the seventh position, he surprisingly scored an undefeated 38 in 26 pitches using three boundaries and two over-boundaries, focusing the attention of people in the stadium and millions in Pakistan.
Usama Bowling Figures:
Usama’s bowling figures of 2-21 across four overs was just as critical in Pakistan’s narrow victory. Before this, Babar and Fakhar Zaman had been sent to bat first and led Pakistan to sturdy position of 178-5.
Saim Ayub faced more challenges in this series. He attempted to overpower William O’Rourke’s pitch in the second over. Sadly, he mistimed his shot and New Zealand’s team leader Bracewell caught it mid-off. After that, Usman Khan came to join Babar.
From the start, Babar scored with a boundary hit towards square leg in Zakary Foulkes’s first over. He made some superb shots afterward, one of them being a massive six off the same bowler in the third over. The Pakistan captain then faced fast bowler Ben Sears, hitting the ball three times to the boundary, adding to 16 runs for the hosts. One of these boundaries was his well-known midwicket flick.
In the powerplay, Pakistan scored 51-1, cheered on robustly by an almost-bottomless crowd. Babar and Usman slowly but surely grew their partnership. Usman, a right-handed player, found redemption. Despite a lackluster T20I debut and lack of impact in this series, he managed a decent score of 31 off 29 balls.
The young 28 year old player hit a six off the off-spinner Bracewell and followed up with a four in the eighth over, which cost the tourists a painful 15 runs. Yet, during the very next over, the same 28 year old got caught brilliantly by Bracewell at extra cover. The one who caught him? Ish Sodhi, a seasoned leg-spinner. Usman and Babar worked together to add 73 off 44 balls. Next in line to bat was Fakhar Zaman, he filled the fourth slot.
Babar kept up his Strong Batting
Hitting his 34th T20 International half-century. Pakistan’s score reached 100 in the 13th over, delivered by Sodhi. In that same over, Babar slammed a six.
Fakhar, a left-handed player, started slow but gradually picked up, making 43 off 33. One of Ben Sears’ balls in the 15th over was met with a strong strike from Fakhar, which went for a four. But Sears bounced back in the very same over, breaking through the robust defence of Babar with an excellent yorker. It hit squarely on the middle stump. Babar, the batsman, ended up with an impressive score of 69 from 44 balls, made up of six fours and two maximum hits.
Fakhar slammed two direct shots, then, in the 18th over, he sent a short Sears pitch sailing for a mid-wicket six. The result? A hearty 19 runs. In the innings’ last moments, a fielder snagged him near the boundary, quite impressively.
Iftikhar Ahmed (six) wasn’t able to hold his own against Neesham in the 19th over. Yet, thanks to Shadab’s quick efforts (15 not out off five), Pakistan pushed to achieve a competitive score. Chapman made an impressive catch at the boundary toward the end, taking Fakhar out in the final over off Foulkes.
Scoreboard Pakistan vs New Zealand T20 5th Match
PAKISTAN:
Saim Ayub c Bracewell b O’Rourke 1
Usman Khan c Bracewell b Sodhi 31
Babar Azam b Sears 69
Fakhar Zaman c Chapman b Foulkes 43
Iftikhar Ahmed c Bracewell b Neesham 6
Shadab Khan not out 15
Imad Wasim not out 4
EXTRAS (LB-1, NB-1, W-7) 9
TOTAL (for five wickets, 20 overs) 178
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-8 (Saim), 2-81 (Usman), 3-123 (Babar), 4-159 (Iftikhar), 5-171 (Fakhar)
BOWLING: Foulkes 4-0-35-1 (3w, 1nb), O’Rourke 4-0-25-1 (2w), Sears 4-0-46-1 (2w), Bracewell 3-0-28-0, Sodhi 4-0-30-1, Neesham 1-0-13-1
NEW ZEALAND:
T. Seifert b Usama 52
T. Blundell b Shaheen 4
M. Bracewell c Babar b Shadab 23
M. Chapman b Usama 12
Cole McConchie lbw b Imad 1
J. Neesham c Shadab b Shaheen 16
J. Clarkson not out 38
Z. Foulkes b Shaheen 0
I. Sodhi lbw b Shaheen 3
B. Sears run out 7
W. O’Rourke run out 0
EXTRAS (LB-2, NB-1, W-10) 13
TOTAL (all out, 19.2 overs) 169
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FALL OF WICKETS: 1-5 (Blundell), 2-81 (Seifert), 3-97 (Chapman), 4-97 (Bracewell), 5-103 (McConchie), 6-125 (Neesham), 7-125 (Foulkes), 8-137 (Sodhi), 9-168 (Sears)
BOWLING: Shaheen 4-0-30-4 (2w), Saim 2-0-20-0 (1nb), Amir 3.2-0-41-0 (4w), Abbas 2-0-24-0 (2w), Usama 4-1-21-2 (1w), Iftikhar 1-0-11-0, Shadab 1-0-6-1, Imad 1-0-5-1
RESULT: Pakistan won by 9 runs.
Series Pakistan vs New Zealand– Five-match series tied 2-2.
PLAYER-OF-THE-MATCH: Shaheen Shah Afridi