Mohammad Nawaz bailed Pakistan out for a second consecutive game and Haider Ali finally came good to help Pakistan beat New Zealand by five wickets and seal the tri-series for the Green shirts.
Chasing 164 for the win at Hagley Oval, Pakistan could not accelerate from the off and instead relied on the tried formula of building an inning. The plan seemed to have failed with prolific Babar Azam (15), Shan Masood (19) and Mohammad Rizwan (34) back in the pavilion with Pakistan reeling at 74-3 from 11.3 overs.
With Pakistan in desperate need of some quick runs, Nawaz and Haider Ali launched a stern counterattack adding 56 runs from just 26 balls to reduce the target considerably. The turning point of the chase came in the 14th over when Haider and Nawaz combined to hit Ish Sodhi for 3 sixes and 1 four in his last over.
The leg-spinner finished with figures of 4-0-58-1 after the last over assault.
Haider Ali’s dismissal for 31 from 15 wobbled Pakistan a little as Asif Ali joined him after just one run but Nawaz 38 off 22 and Iftikhar Ahmed 24 off 14 saw Pakistan comfortably home in the end.
Earlier in the day, New Zealand had managed to reach 163-7 from their 20 overs largely in part to 59 runs from Kane Williamson and contributions from Glenn Phillips (29) and Mark Chapman (25).
The hosts had looked to be on their way towards a big total before Pakistan managed to reel them in with constant breakthroughs towards the end.
Haris Rauf finished with 4-0-22-2 while Naseem Shah picked up two wickets as well for 38 runs.
Shadab Khan and Nawaz managed one wicket each with the latter being named man of the match for his performance.
With their tri-series win over New Zealand complete, Pakistan will now look to carry the momentum into this year’s ICC T20 World Cup in Australia.
