T20 World Cup is in the super 12 stage and Pakistan defeated New Zealand in the second half of the double header by five wickets in a thrilling manner.
Pakistan won the toss and elected to bowl first. Pakistan bowling first managed to restrict New Zealand on 134 and then chased it with 5 wickets and 8 balls remaining.
Earlier this year in September New Zealand cancelled the tour of Pakistan right before the first ODI and everyone in Pakistan was considering that disrespectful.
The match could also be considered Pakistan’s answer to what they consider to he their disrespect. Pakistan now is in a strong hold after winning two straight matches.
Haris Rauf was awarded with player of the match for his spectacular bowling spell of 4 wickets for 22 runs in his four over spell. He played a crucial role for his side in winning this match.
Match Summary
Pakistan won the toss and invited New Zealand to bat first. Martin Guptill and Daryl Mitchell came to open the Innings for Kiwis.
Both batsmen managed to gave team a steady but good start. Pakistan got their first break through in the sixth over in form of Guptill who lost his wicket to Rauf after scoring 17 runs.
The skipper then joined Mitchell and progressed the scoreboard for sometime. Pakistan got another wicket in the 9th over.
Daryl Mitchell got out after scoring 27 runs of 20 balls on Imad Wasim’s delivery. Neesham came to join Kane but got out in the very next over after scoring just 1 run.
Devon Conway cane down to middle and started building a partnership with his skipper until Kane Williamson’s run out in the 14th over. Kane got out after scoring 25 runs.
Then in the 18th over Haris Rauf grabbed two wickets of both the set batsmen Conway and Phillips and put the Kiwis on backfoot.
Kiwis failed to score much runs in the death overs as a result could only reach 134 in 20 overs at the loss of 8 wickets.
Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan came to open the Pakistani innings and chase the target. Both batsmen returned unbeaten in their last contest against India.
But the story was not same this time as Tim Southee grabbed the wicket of the skipper Babar Azam in the 6th over. He got out after scoring 9 runs of 11 balls.
Fakhar Zaman joined Rizwan but could not do much as he got out after scoring just 11 runs in 17 balls in the 9th over.
Things got difficult for Pakistan when they lost the wickets of Hafeez and Rizwan in two consecutive overs. It felt like New Zealand may finally turn the tables.
Pakistan lost another wicket in the 15th over but that was it after Shoaib Malik handled the game from here and got the support from Asif Ali.
Both batsmen lead their team towards victory from the point where it seemed as if Pakistan would lose the match.
Shoaib scored an unbeaten 26 of 20 balls and Asif Ali scored a quick 27 of just 12 balls not out and ensured their team’s victory.
Pakistan’s chances to semi finals have just gotten more solidify and New Zealand will be facing India in their next match. Both teams will be looking forward to save their chances in the World Cup.
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