DUNEDIN: On Wednesday at the University Oval, Finn Allen struck his second century in a Twenty20 international and helped New Zealand win the series by crushing Pakistan by 45 runs.
New Zealand clinch T20I series: After three games, the hosts had a commanding 3-0 lead in the five-match series. After Pakistan invited New Zealand to bat first once more, Allen’s aggressive hitting from the outset completely changed the course of the match.
Further, After losing his opening partner Devon Conway early in the game, Tim Seifert entered the lineup in place of the injured captain Kane Williamson.
During their third wicket partnership of 125 runs, Allen was the main aggressor, scoring 83 runs from 38 balls and reaching his century in the process.
Seifert, meanwhile, hit 31 runs off of 23 balls before Saim Ayub caught him at deep midwicket off a well-placed bouncer from Muhammad Wasim Jr.
In a T20I match against Pakistan, Allen carried on the assault, becoming the first hitter to hit ten or more sixes.
With 16 sixes and five boundaries in his innings of 137 runs off 62 balls, he ended up with the greatest individual score by a New Zealand player.
Finn Allen’s valuable scalp was taken by Zaman Khan, which allowed Pakistan’s bowlers to stage a small recovery in the final few overs, allowing them to pass New Zealand from 203-4 to 221-7.
In the 20 overs allotted, the hosts scored 224 runs, with Glenn Phillips (19) being the only significant scorer following Allen’s wicket.
“Pakistan Falls Short in Chasing 225: Babar Azam’s Half-Century Not Enough against New Zealand”
In his four overs, Haris Rauf claimed two wickets at a cost of sixty runs.
With 23 runs on the board, Pakistan lost opening batsman Saim Ayub (10) while chasing an overwhelming 225-run target.
New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner dismissed Babar Azam (age 24) and Mohammed Rizwan (24) after they scored 39 runs for the second wicket.
With Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman (19) and Azam Khan (10), respectively, scored 33 and 20 runs, but the needed run rate continued to soar.
Babar Azam achieved his third consecutive half-century, finishing with a total of 58 off 37, thanks to eight boundaries and one six before Ish Sodhi dismissed him.
Although Shaheen Afridi, the captain, and Muhammad Nawaz quickly put on 40 more runs, the needed run rate proved to be too much to overcome.
Pakistan managed to reach 179-7 in 20 overs, with Nawaz scoring 28 off 15 and Afridi staying undefeated at 16 off 11.
With stats of 2–29, Tim Southee was the most successful bowler; Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Santner, and Sodhi each claimed one wicket.
