F.P. Report
LAHORE: A swashbuckling innings of 60 runs off 24 balls by Iftikhar went in vain as New Zealand hold their nerves to beat Pakistan by four runs in the third T20I match of the five-match series at Gaddafi Stadium on Monday.
Pakistan needed 15 runs in the last over bowled by James Neesham with Iftikhar at the batting end. He hit Neesham for a six on the first ball and then smashed a four on the third delivery to bring the equation down to five runs in three overs. In a bid to finish the game, Iftikhar tried to send Neesham’s fourth delivery out of the ground but ended up giving a simple catch to Daryl Mitchell.
The last batsman Haris Rauf failed to score any run off the two balls he faced and gave a simple catch to Chad Bowes on the last ball of the innings.
Earlier, Tom Latham’s scintillating 49-ball 64 and Daryl Mitchell’s 26-ball 33 powered New Zealand to 163-5 against Pakistan in the third T20I match at Gaddafi Stadium on Monday.
After opting to bat, the visitors suffered early blow by losing Chad Bowes on 9-ball 7. But it was the skipper’s knock and circumspect knock of Daryl Mitchell helped the Black Caps to post decent total on the board.
Latham smoked seven boundaries and two towering sixes in 49 balls he faced, until he was flummoxed by Haris Rauf. Daryl Mitchell smashed two boundaries and one six in 26 balls he played, until he was removed by Shaheen Shah Afridi.
Will Young scored 15-ball 17, while Mark Chapman was unbeaten on 9-ball 11. Rachin Ravindra also remained unconquered (8 off 6).
Haris Rauf (2-31), who was once again brilliant with the bowl and bagged two wickets. Shaheen Shah Afridi (2-33) also picked up two wickets. Shadab Khan (1-34) bagged a wicket by send Chad Bowes packing.
Naseem Shah (0-30), Faheem Ashraf (0-12) and Imad Wasim (0-22) remained wicketless.
This was the must-win game for New Zealand to keep their hopes alive for clinching a series against the home team.
Earlier, New Zealand elected to bat first against Pakistan in the third match of the series.
“For today’s match, we have done one change. Naseem Shah will be playing today,” said Pakistan captain Babar Azam.
New Zealand skipper Tom Latham was of the view that the pitch is quite ideal for batting.
Pakistan was leading the five-match series 2-0. The rest of the two matches will be played at Pindi Cricket Stadium.
Pakistan’s Playing XI: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah
New Zealand’s Playing XI: Tom Latham (c & wk), Chad Bowes, Will Young, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, James Neesham. Rachin Ravindra, Adam Milne, Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi, Ben Lister
