Pakistan Wins Tri-Series With Emphatic Win Over New Zealand
In the tri-series final at Christchurch, Pakistan defeated New Zealand by a decisive victory. The Men in Green won by five wickets thanks to their outstanding play throughout, both with the bat and the ball.
Early on in the game, the Green Shirts took control after cheaply eliminating Finn Allen. With the help of skipper Kane Williamson’s magnificent half-century and cameos from Glenn Phillips and Mark Chapman, New Zealand recovered brilliantly.
New Zealand was held to 163/7 by the Pakistani bowling unit as the fast bowlers closed out the batting in the final five overs, allowing only 33 runs and taking 4 wickets.
As soon as they cheaply eliminated Pakistan’s captain Babar Azam, New Zealand put the screws on Pakistan’s innings. After holding the innings together with 34 runs off of 29 balls before being removed by Ish Sodhi, Mohammad Rizwan continued his impressive run of form. Mohammad Nawaz and Haider Ali reintroduced Pakistan into the match as the necessary run rate continued to rise.
In order to pull Pakistan closer to the target, Nawaz scored 38* runs off of 22 balls while Haider scored 31 runs off of 15 balls. For the Men in Green to to chase down the mark with 5 wickets and 3 balls remaining, Iftikhar Ahmed’s cameo of 25 runs off 14 balls was sufficient.
Pakistan would benefit greatly from the outstanding victory in the run-up to the forthcoming T20 World Cup in Australia in 2022. The campaign between Pakistan and its bitter rival India will start on October 23 at the storied Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).