NZ vs PAK | 3rd T20: Mohammad Rizwan's heroics leads Pakistan to face-saving win

The touring Pakistan team finally got the better of the hosts New Zealand in the third and final T20 of the series, winning the game by four wickets and managed to salvage some pride. Mohammad Rizwan was the hero with the bat for the tourists as he batted throughout the innings and went back to the pavilion only in the last over after playing arguably his best innings in T20. The hosts won the series 2-1.

Chasing the target of 174 at the McLean Park in Napier, the visitors were off to a slow start and were also given a reprieve when one of the best fielders in the world, Martin Guptill, missed Haider Ali at the cover-point position. Still, the men in green could only muster 40 runs for the first wicket and it took as many as 32 balls.  

Guptill split the webbing of his right hand and went off the field that brought Daryll Mitchell on the ground to the field as a substitute and he earned a name for himself with a splendid catch to send Ali back to the pavilion after missing out to play the game on his all-round ability.

The failure of openers has been the Achilles Heels for the tourists in the T20 series and the story was not quite different, albeit the partnership did not read too wrong in terms of runs.

After the fall of Haider Ali, who Pakistan’s hopes were riding on Mohammad Hafeez’s shoulder who was in menacing form in the last game and had missed his century by just one run. Hafeez, who is famously called as ‘The Professor’ did not disappoint his team and got going straight away as a pumped-up Scott Kuggleijn tried to test his backfoot game with a bouncer and the right-hander swivelled to pull the ball out of the boundary line to announce the arrival and also hand out a lesson on his backfoot technique.

Both Hafeez and Rizwan kept on chipping at the required run rate with the rotation of strikes and time hit boundaries and never allowed the required rate to jump beyond their reach.  Hafeez was particularly severe on anything bowled short to him and Neesham, too, was taught a lesson in the ninth over of the chase.

At the halfway mark, the tourists were 77/1 and were in need of 97 runs from the last 60 balls, which was not looking undoable with nine wickets including a batsman in supreme form— Hafeez at the crease.

Rizwan was not necessarily explosive and it was Hafeez who was going berserk to keep a check of the required rate. Rizwan reached his maiden T20I fifty from 40 balls while Hafeez’s six-hitting form was undaunted at the other end.

But, Hafeez could not quite carry along like the last game and perished in pursuit of more than 10 runs per over. After Hafeez’s departure, Rizwan took the mettle of guiding the team with lusty hits and along with the next man in at the crease—Khusdil Shah, plundered Scott Kuggeleijn for 17 runs in the 16th over of the chase to bring the run rate back under 10 runs per over.

Although James Neesham was able to eliminate Khusdil in the next over, Rizwan made sure that Pakistan were in the game with a six in an over that yielded 13 runs for the tourists. 

Rizwan had a bigger challenge in the next over in the form of Trent Boult, but he trumped the left arm seamer today and smashed him for two boundaries to lead Pakistan’s nose in front of the shots in the final T20.

Needing only 11 runs in the last 12 balls, it was Pakistan's game to lose and the Blackcaps had to do something special to revive the game in their favour. Returning with his last over of the day, Tim Southee almost produced a hattrick, taking out Faheem Ashraf and the captain Shadab Khan on two consecutive deliveries but could not prevent Pakistan taking seven runs off him.

Blackcaps could not have won the game without dismissing Rizwan who was batting with supreme flair and confidence but a more enterprising prodigy in Kyle Jamieson got the better of him in the last over in a moment that could well have sent panic to the visitors’ dressing room, but Iftikhar Ahmed knew how to get yourself counted and deposited Jamieson on the roof of McLean Park to hand Pakistan their first win of the tour.

Earlier, the Blackcaps were asked to bat first and their opening pair of Martin Guptill and Tim Seifert were asked some tough questions by the impressive new-ball pair of Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Hasnain in the first three overs, albeit the Kiwi pair kept the scoreboard going and reached 23.

Hasnain’s second over of the day proved to be the one changing the momentum of Pakistan’s innings as Guptill and Seifert launched an attack on him, with a six and four to take the innings up and running.

Guptill’s inability to convert starts into big innings continued today as he failed to clear the infield just when he started to look like getting back to his best when he hits bowlers over their heads for fun. Ironically, he was dismissed attempting his usual shot over mid-off only and the ever so reliable Kane Williamson walked onto the crease.

The was not to be for Blackcaps’ dominance with the bat, at least in the early part of the game as both Williamson and Tim Seifert, who was looking in splendid touch until the ball that pegged back his off stump, were taken away by an impressive Faheem Ashraf who showed the glimpse of his credentials with the ball, for which he is being picked by the selectors in every series.

After the departure of Seifert and Williamson, the swashbuckling duo of Glen Phillips and Devon Conway were together at the crease for one more time and the Blackcaps were hoping for a similar display of hitting they had put on a show against West Indies in the preceding series.

The Pakistan captain tried to bowl his overs in the middle phase when the wickets had fallen at the other end of Ashraf and his plans were working perfectly until he got on to the radar of Phillips who took him to the cleaners and demolished an excellent bowling figure that read 21 runs from three overs.

With 15 runs off the 13th over, the pair got the Blackcaps going yet again, but for not long as Shaheen Shah Afridi returned to eliminate Phillips in the 15th over. On the other hand, Conway was batting at his usual best and took 11 runs off Afridi in the same over he dismissed Phillips.

Next two overs went pretty badly for the hosts as they could take only 15 runs from it and Ashraf returned to add one more scalp of James Neesham against his name.

At 133/5 at the end of 17th over, Conway had the dual role of finishing strongly while making sure that the innings didn't go in disarray. He took a liking of Haris Rauf in the next over and took 16 runs off him as well as completing his half-century from 39 balls.

It was Shaheen Shah’s chance to go for runs in the next over as Conway in the partnership of Scott Kuggleijn took another 16 runs off the next over as Blackcaps were secure of a fighting total on the board.

The hosts won the series 2-1 and also handed out some tough lessons for the visitors who clearly looked out of sorts in the absence of their captain and the best batsman in the line up—Babar Azam in the T20 series. Both sides will now head to a two-match Test series, and the challenge would be far bigger for the visitors to conquer in the white jerseys.

Powered by Froala Editor