New Zealand spinners set it up with the ball, before openers made light work of the chase to help the hosts register a second straight win – by nine wickets against Pakistan – in Christchurch on October 11.
Having defeated Bangladesh on Sunday, Zealand outclassed Pakistan on Tuesday to climb to the top of the points table in the ongoing tri-series at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch.
Pakistan opted to bat first, and the openers – skipper Babar Azam (21 of 23) and Mohammad Rizwan (16 off 17) couldn’t quite get going, with the latter falling to Michael Bracewell’s off-breaks in the fifth over.
Mitchell Santner, who had taken the new ball, removed Shan Masood and Shadab Khan (promoted to No.4) later in his spell, and Bracewell dismissed Babar to reduce Pakistan to 65/4 in the 11th over.
Tim Southee and Ish Sodhi maintained the squeeze thereafter, with Iftikhar Ahmed and Asif Ali’s sixth-wicket stand of 51 off 29 helping the visitors finish at 130/7 in the allotted 20 overs. Bracewell, Santner and Southee bagged two wickets each, while Sodhi returned 1/23 in his four-over spell.
Openers Finn Allen and Devon Conway starred in the chase, the former playing an aggressor with 62 off 42 with a four and six sixes, before falling to Shadab. Conway struck five fours in an unbeaten 49 off 46 to steer Blackcaps home in the company of Kane Williamson with nine wickets and 3.5 overs remaining.
Bracewell, who was named the Player of the Match for his 2/11 in a four-over spell, reflected on a game-setting performance.
“Slightly different role bowling in the powerplay today, but pretty happy with the way it came out. Got fortunate in that first over with a couple of short and wide ones that got hit straight to the fielders but that’s T20 cricket,”
he said.
Babar, meanwhile, admitted that his side fell short with the bat, and hoped to overcome that in the next game.
“First innings was a little bit slow, our batting was not up to the mark. Lots of things to discuss and a day off tomorrow, we will ensure we don’t repeat the mistakes in the next game. We had a bad day, if we had got 160 would have been good but 130 is easy for the Black Caps.”
stated Babar
The Black Caps will now face Bangladesh in the fifth-match of the competition on Wednesday, and a win for the hosts would confirm a New Zealand vs Pakistan final. Bangladesh need to win both their games with a significant margin to be in with a chance.
Bangladesh, who have lost each of their first two games, will play Pakistan on October 13, with the final to be played the following day.
Brief scores
Pakistan 130/7 in 20 overs (Ali 25; Bracwell 2-11, Santner 2-27) lost to New Zealand 131/1 in 16.1 overs (Allen 62, Conway 49*) by nine wickets
