CHRISTCHURCH: With two wickets each from Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson and an undefeated half-century from Glenn Phillips and Daryl Mitchell, New Zealand easily defeated Pakistan by seven wickets in the fourth Twenty20 International and took a 4-0 lead in the five-match series.
Mohammad Rizwan, who was put to bat, was Pakistan’s lone bright spot during yet another dull batting match in Christchurch. While the other hitters could only muster 61 off 55 balls and Pakistan reached 158 for 5 in their 20 overs, he hit an undefeated 90 off 63 balls.
For the first time in the series, Shaheen Shah Afridi put pressure on New Zealand by hitting three times in his opening two overs. However, Mitchell and Phillips needed some time to become comfortable before massively opening up their shoulders to aid New Zealand in winning in 18.1 overs. Mitchell hit 72 not out off 44 balls, and Phillips finished unbeaten on 52 balls. Together, they added an unbeaten 139 off 93 balls for the third wicket.
Pakistan were batting first for the first time in this series when Rizwan and Babar lit up the powerplay. However, Henry threw a wrench into their plans early on when he had Saim Ayub advance to first slip, where Mitchell easily caught the second ball.
But Rizwan was not going to be defeated. Playing in his 50th Twenty20 International, Adam Milne was taken for two consecutive fours, as was Tim Southee. After that, Babar Azam joined in the fun as Rizwan hammered Ferguson miles over deep midwicket, helping Pakistan surge to 51 for 1 in just six overs.
With regular intervals, Rizwan found the spaces and carried on with his joyful ways. However, they were unable to form partnerships, just like Pakistan’s batting has been doing this series. Babar was bowled out by Phillips at deep midwicket after he mistimed a 149.5kph Milne bumper. After entering and quickly killing the innings, Fakhar Zaman managed to get only 9 runs out of 15 before Ferguson ended his suffering.
Rizwan, though, kept up his role as the lone ranger. It took him 38 balls to reach fifty, but he was more concerned about rotating the strike than taking chances because wickets were falling at the other end. It was only to Mohammad Nawaz hitting Milne for three straight sixes in the 19th over, which ended at 21, that Pakistan managed to surpass 150.
On a two-paced surface, though, 158 seems a little lacking.
