Experienced all-rounder Jimmy Neesham kept his cool and defended the last six balls to give New Zealand a four-run win in the fourth Twenty20 International against Pakistan in Lahore on Thursday. .
Pakistan needed 18 runs before the final over, chasing 179, but Neesham came on top despite being hit for a boundary off the first ball, much to the heartbreak of the packed Gaddafi Stadium crowd.
Opener Tim Robinson hit his first half-century to push New Zealand to 178-7 in 20 overs, while pacer William O’Rourke’s 3-27 helped keep Pakistan to 174-8. .
Returning all-rounder Imad Wasim (22 not out) was left with no choice but to play the final ball as New Zealand took a solid 2-1 lead for the fifth consecutive match in the final match, also played in Lahore, on Saturday. could not.
After winning the second match by the same score, Pakistan lost the third match by seven wickets, but the first match was abandoned after just two balls (all three in Rawalpindi).
The loss came as a shock to Pakistan, who had been preparing at full speed for the Twenty20 World Cup to be held in the United States and West Indies in June.
New Zealand, who are without a number of players due to injuries and vacancies in the Indian Premier League, will draw confidence from their depth ahead of the World Cup.
Pakistan felt they had a chance as Fakhar Zaman, who hit 61 off 45 balls, scored 59 runs for the fifth wicket along with Iftikhar Ahmed (23) to lift Pakistan from 79-4. .
But O’Rourke, playing his fourth T20I, dismissed Ahmed to boost the wickets of Babar Azam (5) and Saim Ayub (20) to boost New Zealand.
Fellow pacer Ben Sears (2-27) needed 33 off 14 balls to take Zaman’s wicket.
– “Hard over” is important –
New Zealand captain Michael Bracewell praised his team’s bowling in the final over.
“It’s very positive for us to be able to bring in new players. We supported Neesham and bowled hard overs and he was able to get a shutout today,” Bracewell said.
“I think the last five overs as a bowling team were particularly impressive.”
Pakistan captain Azam regretted losing the wicket at a crucial point.
“I wanted to follow it with positive intentions, but I couldn’t do it,” Azam said. “When you lose back-to-back wickets, you need a few overs to catch up, but that period derailed us.”
Earlier, Robinson batted aggressively with a 36-ball 51 to push New Zealand to 93-1 in his 10 overs when he was sent into bat, before Abbas Afridi’s career-best 3-20 put Pakistan back into contention. I pulled it back.
New Zealand got off to a strong start with Robinson and Tom Blundell hitting 15 for 28 and 56 in five overs in the opening stand.
However, from 94-1, New Zealand lost three wickets, including eight from dangerous Mark Chapman, as Pakistan’s fielders continued to take catches in support of Abbas’ good bowling.
Dean Foxcroft made 34 off 26 deliveries and Bracewell added 27 to keep the scoreboard moving as New Zealand posted 43 off their final five overs.
Pakistan were forced to make five substitutions as wicketkeeper-batsmen Mohammad Rizwan and Mohammad Irfan Khan were injured and Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Abrar Ahmed were rested.
Shi/mu
