Daily Times

Match starts at 09:00 pm (PST)

RAWALPINDI: Following two successive defeats, New Zealand finally got over the line against hosts Pakistan in the third T20I in Lahore to keep themselves alive in the five-match series. The fourth T20I will be played at Rawalpindi Stadium here on Thursday (today), as well as the fifth and final on April 24. The Kiwis, who batted first in the third match for the first time in the series, managed to thwart their opponents on the back of a clinical bowling performance. The victory was set up by skipper Tom Latham, who registered a well-compiled half-century to take his side to a competitive total of 164 runs in their 20 overs.

The Balckcaps were brilliant with the ball, especially the pacers, who rattled the Pakistani top order during the chase to give them firm control of the proceedings.

Meanwhile, Pakistan will be ruing the chance of completing a series victory due to an underwhelming performance by their batters. Although the Kiwis had put on a decent total on the board in their first innings, the home side were the favourites to chase down the target, given their batting performance in the previous two matches of the series. While Tom ill be looking for a win to draw level in the series, Babar Azam’s side will take the field to secure a series victory, proving the previous defeat a rare blip. The surface in Rawalpindi has traditionally been good for batting even though there is a decent amount of assistance for the bowlers at this venue. The team winning the toss would be inclined to bat first as all three matches in the series have been won by the team batting first in the contest.

It was a rare failure with the bat for the Pakistani top order which led to their demise in the third encounter. However, Iftikhar Ahmed’s belligerence with the bat, along with Shaheen Afridi’s form with the ball will please the Men in Green. Even though the Kiwi bowlers were put under tremendous pressure in the latter stages of the match, skipper Latham will be satisfied with his team’s performance in their first victory of the series. However, the lack of runs from the middle order still remains a concern for the visitors.

Squads:

Pakistan probable playing XI: Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam (c), Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf,
Naseem Shah.

New Zealand probable playing XI: Tom Latham (c & wk), Chad Bowes, Will Young, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, James Neesham, Rachin Ravindra, Adam Milne, Ish Sodhi, Matt Henry, Ben Lister.