MOUNT MAUNGANUI: Pakistan has won the Twenty-20 International (T20I) series after defeating the hosts, New Zealand (NZ) in the third and final match at at Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui.
The victory led Pakistan to the top position in ICC T20I rankings.
Pakistan, after winning the toss, set 182 run-target for New Zealand. in response, NZ could manage to score 163 runs in the allotted 20 overs.
Opener Fakhar Zaman scored 46 off 36 balls, his score includes five fours and one six. skipper Sarfraz Ahmed (29), Umar Amin (21) and Harris Suhail (20) also contributed to putting a handsome total.
From the Kiwis side, opener Martin Guptill (59) and Ross Taylor (25) were among the highest run scorers. Spinner Shadab Khan was the pick of the bowlers taking 2 wickets in 4 overs while leaking only 19 runs.
Pacer Hassan Ali was not in the final eleven for today’s match as he got some minor injuries during practice sessions. he was replaced by Aamir Yamin.
Warmup session ahead of the third #NZvPAK T20I pic.twitter.com/rNTJKtneyC
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) January 28, 2018
Pakistan will top T20I ranking if emerge victorious today.
Pakistan has already beaten New Zealand by 48 runs in the 2nd T20I of the three-match series in Auckland. Pakistan batted first and put up a mammoth total of 201 for 4. The openers provided a brilliant start and Sarfraz and Babar played two great knocks to capitalise on the excellent start.
It proved an uphill task for the hosts as New Zealand lost early wickets and though the lower-middle order showed some resistance, they were comprehensively defeated in the end as all Pakistani bowlers made it to the scorecard. Faheem Ashraf got 3 wickets. Amir and Shadab took 2 wickets each while Rumman Raees and Hasan Ali also striking once each. Tom Bruce was run out.
New Zealand were all out for 153 in the end. The series is squared now and the final will be played on Sunday. Fakhar Zaman was named Man of the Match for his brilliant 50 runs off just 28 balls. He struck 3 sixes and 5 boundaries during his innings that set the tone for the mountain of a total that just proved too steep for the Kiwis in the end.