HAMILTON: In the second Twenty20 International match on Sunday at Seddon Park, New Zealand defeated Pakistan by 21 runs thanks to opening batsman Finn Allen’s explosive half-century and Adam Milne’s four-fer.
New Zealand beat Pakistan in second T20I: With a record of 2-0, New Zealand is leading the five-match T20I series.
Pakistan had a terrible start to the 195-run chase, losing both of their openers in the first two overs with just 10 runs scored.
Still, Pakistan rallied behind a counterattacking combination of 87 runs from 49 balls from Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman.
Zaman led the charge with a scorching innings of 50 from 25 balls, comprising three boundaries and five sixes before receiving an inside edge off Milne which destroyed his stumps.
From that point on, the bowlers from New Zealand took quick wickets and dominated, reducing Pakistan from 97-3 to 125-6.
As wickets fell, Babar Azam stayed composed at his end until captain Shaheen Afridi joined him in the middle.
Azam and Afridi put together a quick 28-run partnership with Pakistan requiring 70 off 33, which appeared to put their team out of trouble. However, the former misplayed Ben Sears and was caught by Tim Southee at Southee at mid-off.
Azam used seven boundaries and two sixes to score 66 runs from 43 balls.
Before Southee took the last wicket of Abbas Afridi, Adam Milne had already removed Afridi and Usama Mir from the game, ending Pakistan’s innings at 173.
Apart from Zaman and Azam, Shaheen Afridi was the only hitter to reach double figures with a quick 22-run strike from 13 balls, including one boundary and two sixes.
With stats of 4-33, Milne was the Kiwis’ best bowler, with two wickets apiece from Southee, Sears, and Ish Sodhi.
New Zealand’s T20I Innings Highlights
Earlier, the powerplay saw Allen and Devon Conway, who had been call to bat, scoring 59 runs for the first wicket, giving New Zealand a great start.
The first breakthrough came when Aamir Jamal removed Conway (20) in the sixth over, sending captain Kane Williamson to bat.
Before the injury forced the former to be replaced, Williamson and Allen contributed a quick 52 runs to the total, hitting 26 off 15 with three boundaries and one six.
Allen carried on his rampage, reaching his third T20I half-century in just 24 balls, but Usama Mir’s superb googly dismissed him.
He scored 74 runs off 41 balls in an exciting performance that included five sixes and seven boundaries.
To lower the scoring rate, Abbas Afridi then dismissed Daryl Mitchell (17) and Mark Chapman (4) off successive balls throughout the course of his two overs.
Following a four-wicket over from Haris Rauf, Mitchell Santner hit Aamir Jamal for fourteen runs in the eighteenth over, bringing New Zealand to 187-7.
After hitting three boundaries and two sixes to score 25 runs off 13 balls, Santner’s exciting cameo came to an end with a run-out in the penultimate over.
At 194–8, New Zealand concluded their innings, with Tim Southee (5) and Ben Sears (1) still undefeated.
After his return, Harif Rauf bowled 3-38, while Abbas Afridi took two wickets for Pakistan.
