The win means that Pakistan have now sealed the five-match series 3-0 – their first in 12 years against the Kiwis.
Set to chase 288 runs, New Zealand kept losing wickets after regular intervals. Openers Tom Blundell and Will Young provided a good start to their side, but their departure was followed by a couple of quick wickets.
Blundell scored the highest 65 runs for New Zealand. Skipper Tom Latham made 45 runs, whereas, Cole McConchie resisted a bit in the end but couldn’t take New Zealand over the victory line. He scored 63 not out, including six boundaries and two maximums.
For Pakistan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jr and Naseem Shah bagged two wickets each. Agha Salman bagged one wicket.
After being put to bat in the first innings, left-handed opener Imam-ul-Haq led Pakistan from the front amid controlled bowling by New Zealand to restrict the home side to 287-6.
Fakhar Zaman, who scored two consecutive centuries in the first two ODIs of this series, departed earlier. The left-handed batter didn’t find rhythm in today’s contest and had to leave after giving away his wicket to Matt Henry.
Imam continued his form from the previous two matches and built momentum alongside skipper Babar Azam. The two batters shared the crease for an eye-catching partnership of 108 runs. Meanwhile, Babar completed his 26th fifty but couldn’t get to his 5,000 ODI runs. He is just 19 runs short of this milestone.
On the other hand, Imam was looking good to finally score a century in this series. But, he once again fell on nervous 90. His innings included seven boundaries and a six. Mohammad Rizwan and Agha Salman, in the end, tried to score some runs for Pakistan. They both scored 54 runs together.
Shadab Khan (21*) and Mohammad Nawaz (11*) played cameos, in the end, to help Pakistan put up a defendable total.
For New Zealand, Henry picked up three wickets while Adam Milne bagged two scalps. Cole McConchie also managed to take a wicket.
The death toll from a powerful earthquake that struck China's remote Tibet region on Tuesday…
Much of my 2025 will be devoted to co-authoring a book with my great English…
For far too long, India has evaded responsibility for its insidious practices of cross-border terrorism,…
Once bitten, twice shy, yet here we are again, staring at the barrel of a…
Over two years since I first pronounced World War 2.5, primarily due to the increasing…
Before taking a look into Voice of America's controversial journalistic standards; let's enlighten the thoughts…
Leave a Comment