NAPIER : Pakistan have avoided a series whitewash and defeated New Zealand by four wickets in the third and final Twenty20 International at the McLean Park, Napier on Tuesday.
Chasing down New Zealand’s 173 runs, the Green Shirts scored 177 in 19.4 overs. Mohammad Rizwan smashed match-winning 89 off 59. Scott Kuggeleijn dismissed two batsmen.
Pakistan stand-in captain Shadab Khan won the toss and decided to bowl first. Devon Conway smashed 63 off 45 with seven fours and one six. Faheem Ashraf picked up three wickets for just 20 runs in his quota of four overs.
The Green Shirts made three changes in the playing XI. Abdullah Shafique, Imad Wasim and Wahab Riaz have been left out while Hussain Talat, Iftikhar Ahmed and Mohammad Hasnain are included in the last encounter.
Shadab Khan said at toss, “We’re going to bowl first because we’ve changed the team so we have depth in batting, so we want to chase. For most of them [Pakistan players], it’s their first tour in New Zealand and the bounce has affected them. Hopefully they’ll learn from that and do better.”
New Zealand are unchanged from the side that clinched a nine-wicket win in Hamilton on Sunday.
Skipper Kane Williamson said, “We’ve had a couple of strong performances and it’s important we keep looking to back that up. “It’s a good surface so hopefully we can make use of that first up and get a competitive total.”
Pakistan: Haider Ali, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Shadab Khan (capt), Mohammad Hafeez, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Iftikhar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Hasnain, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi
New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Tim Seifert (wk), Kane Williamson (capt), Devon Conway, Glenn Phillips, James Neesham, Kyle Jamieson, Ish Sodhi, Scott Kuggeleijn, Tim Southee, Trent Boult
