As the visitors defeated New Zealand by nine wickets at Eden Park in Auckland, Pakistan’s most recent T20I opener, Hassan Nawaz, displayed his whole arsenal on his way to the fastest century for Pakistan in the format, which came off 44 balls. With a tough target of 205 on a level field, Pakistan capitalized on Hassan Nawaz destruction with strong performances from captain Agha Salman (51* off 31) and Mohammad Haris (41 off 20) to do the job in 16 overs. With New Zealand leading 2-1, this outcome keeps the five-match series alive.
With a brilliant attack earlier in the evening led by Mark Chapman (94 off 44), it looked as though Pakistan would be in for another crushing defeat. The new ball showed some movement, but conditions quickly improved at Eden Park as the true bounce aided strokeplay. Tim Seifert holled a skier to mid-on after Haris Rauf’s incredible catch at short fine leg had sent Finn Allen packing early. However, Chapman’s clinical ball-striking performance was the only thing that helped the Black Caps gain momentum.
All eyes were on Chapman’s solo performance, and there were no other noteworthy entries in the top six. With Chapman going crazy and Pakistan’s shoddy ground fielding, 220 or even 230 felt likely. Pakistan, however, barely held out with crucial strikes before causing a mini-collapse at the 15-over mark. Jimmy Neesham was promoted to number five, but it didn’t work out because he lost to Abbas Afridi after Shadab Khan had already removed Daryl Mitchell. However, Shaheen Afridi delivered the decisive blow by making Chapman make a mistake.
Pakistan had the ideal opportunity to rally, and Abrar Ahmed’s double goal further cemented the visitors’ hold. To stop New Zealand’s attack, the wrist spinner bowled Kyle Jamieson and Mitchell Hay with googlies. Suddenly, with five overs remaining, the hosts had fallen from 135/3 to 164/7. Salman’s perplexing choice to keep bowling Abrar out, especially with the lower order in, helped New Zealand, and captain Michael Bracewell (31 off 18) played a vital role in keeping the innings from ending abruptly.
Hassan Nawaz also got off to a fast start, but Haris was the first to attack.
The Black Caps easily left 20–30 runs out there, but Bracewell’s cameo and his 29-run partnership with Ish Sodhi helped them to surpass 200. In the end, it was crucial given how Pakistan started the pursuit. Haris and Nawaz were on song right away, with the latter setting the tone for the tourists by hitting two sixes off Jamieson’s opening over. The 50-run partnership was quickly established, and with one Powerplay delivery left, Pakistan was 74 runs when Haris was hit by a short ball from Jacon Duffy.
Once the field expanded, New Zealand would have hoped to apply pressure, but Nawaz’s daring strokeplay proved to be too much for them. In the meantime, Salman provided him with helpful assistance, and New Zealand was under pressure as the dew also set in. Perhaps if Sodhi had hung onto a skier at fine leg in the tenth over with Nawaz on 68, things might have gone a little differently. At this point, the asking rate had dropped to just over eight runs per over, but a wicket might have caused some anxiety in the Pakistani dugout. As Nawaz and Salman crushed their squad to a historic victory, they instead savored the reprieve.
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