WELLINGTON – New Zealand beat Pakistan by eight wickets in the fifth T20I in Wellington on Wednesday to take the series 4-1.
Chasing a below-par 129-run target for the victory, New Zealand reached the milestone with eight wickets in hand and 60 balls to spare.
Tim Seifert was the top scorer for the Kiwis with a career-best 97 not out. Fill Allen contributed 27. Sufiyan Muqeem bagged two wickets. James Neesham was named player of the match. Tim Seifert grabbed the Player of the Series award.
After being asked to bat first by New Zealand skipper Michael Bracewell, Pakistan lost three top-order batters inside the powerplay with just 27 runs on the board.
After losing five wickets at the halfway stage, skipper Salman Agha (51) and Shadab Khan (28) stitched a 54-run partnership to give some respectability to the team total. Besides these two, Muhammad Haris contributed 11 runs. As no other batter could enter the double figures, Pakistan ended up at 128/9 in the allocated 20 overs.
James Neesham was the highest wicket-taker for the side with a career-best 5/22. Jacob Duffy bagged two wickets while Ben Sears and Ish Sodhi took one wicket each.
Pakistan Playing XI: Mohammad Haris (wk), Hasan Nawaz, Omair Bin Yousuf, Salman Ali Agha (c), Usman Khan, Shadab Khan, Abdul Samad, Jahandad Khan, Haris Rauf, Sufyan Muqeem, Mohammad Ali
New Zealand Playing XI: Tim Seifert, Finn Allen, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Mitch Hay (wk), Michael Bracewell (c), Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy, Ben Sears, Will O’Rourk
