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Match Report – PAK vs NZ 3rd T20I, April 21, 2024

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new zealand Win at 179/3 (Chapman 87*, Foxcroft 31, Abbas Afridi 2-27) Pakistan 178 for 4 (Shadab 41, Babar 37, Sodhi 2-25) 7 wickets

It doesn’t seem to matter who represents New Zealand each year. The series played in Pakistan is always going to be competitive. Despite a below-average performance in the second T20I, Mark Chapman’s New Zealand team managed to shake off Pakistan in the third match to level the series at 1-1. Chapman made easy use of the 178 balls collected by Pakistan, finishing with a brilliant unbeaten 87 off 42 balls, with the visiting team arriving with 10 balls and seven wickets to spare.

Chapman starts where he left last April

Chapman had little trouble picking up where he left off, with his most impressive performance for New Zealand when a similarly depleted side visited them in April 2023. New Zealand got off to a bright start with big hitters Tim Robinson and Tim Seifert, but lost within seven balls to Abbas Afridi and Naseem Shah respectively. At that point, with so much inexperience to follow and so many impressive bowling options for Babar Azam, the chase felt like it was in serious danger of going off course.

But Chapman proved he was more than just a power hitter as he began to dismantle the dangerous duo of Shadab Khan and Abrar Ahmed. He understood that the target was not so intimidating as to require reckless slogging and manipulated the field to pick boundaries in the three successive overs the two bowled. A stroke of fate struck Naseem when he took a very easy chance from a wrong sweep. As a result, the batsman returned to his shell to take on the stray Iftikhar Ahmed.

This reprieve ended up costing Pakistan dearly. No such respect was shown when Iftikhar returned and smashed a back six over his head, but when Chapman led New Zealand to Pakistan’s total with fortuitous inevitability, his game His talent also began to shine. Because he will not only lead New Zealand to the goal, but he will also deal a psychological blow by taking down two of their valuable fast bowlers.

Shaheen Shah Afridi was the first to bear the brunt, hitting two boundaries and a six in 15 overs that pushed his desired rate below nine. Babar quickly reinstated his ace Naseem, but an even worse fate awaited him. Curved 6, Curved 4, Straight 6, Pulled 4. His first four thus came and he brought down the regulation batting average to one run below, sealing Pakistan’s fate with a 23-run over.

It may be obligatory to say at this point that Dean Foxcroft was a capable replacement, but the truth is that this was a one-man chase. Just two boundaries came off Foxcroft’s bat in the 117-run partnership, and while Foxcroft struggled to keep his strike rate above 100, Chapman finished at more than double that. I will do it. Pakistan will naturally reflect on the quality of their death bowling, but the fact that all they needed was a lone effort to chase down what they managed to do raises the question of whether the first innings total was adequate. raise

New Zealand bowlers hamper Pakistan’s progress

In stark contrast to Saturday’s ground, Pakistan took to bat on what Babar said was the typical batting-friendly pitch that Rawalpindi is known for. However, Pakistan’s approach to setting appropriate targets for such proposals has been confusing at best. Although Saim Ayub missed the side with his trademark flyer, New Zealand, with the likes of Zac Foakes, Ish Sodhi and Will O’Rourke, continued to find bowlers to sneak into tight overs and thwart Pakistan’s momentum. .

This was especially true when Babar and Mohammad Rizwan got together for two balls after Ayub was dismissed and the end of the power play. In the 6-11 overs, the momentum Pakistan had built waned as New Zealand conceded just 36 runs, with Rizwan in particular failing to find openings deftly in the powerplay. He was forced off shortly after with a hamstring injury, but captain Michael Bracewell placated the Pakistan captain’s misfire and forced him to leave midway through.

Shadab gives momentum to the innings.

Pakistan would meander a few more overs, but it was the introduction of Shadab Khan that injected purpose into Pakistan’s innings. By this point, his run rate had fallen to 8.07, but a few boundaries in the first four balls set the wheels in motion for the innings, which took him to 41 off 20 balls. With Irfan Niazi, Pakistan started hurtling back towards the league. Total competitiveness. Perhaps cruelly for New Zealand, it was Bracewell who took the biggest hit in their whirlwind partnership, keeping Pakistan in check in the over, and the pair smashed the final over for 19 runs. .

But once again New Zealand found a way to take the final say, with Jacob Duffy and Foakes taking two tight final overs to keep Pakistan below 180. Pakistan may have felt this was enough against a weakened New Zealand side, but as is often the case in T20 cricket, there is little place to hide when the sum is below face value.

Danyal Rasool is ESPNcricinfo’s Pakistan correspondent. @Danny61000



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