New Zealand won the series against Pakistan 4-1 by winning the fifth and final T20 at Sky Stadium by 8 wickets. With Jimmy Neesham’s five wickets, New Zealand restricted Pakistan to 128-9. In reply, Tim Seifert scored an unbeaten 97 off 38 balls and New Zealand needed only ten overs to reach the target.
After winning the toss and choosing to field first, New Zealand bowlers immediately put pressure on Pakistan. Will O’Rourke and Jacob Duffy struck early, taking the visitors’ score to 24/3 in the powerplay. Pakistan’s innings were never successful, Neesham created havoc in the middle overs and due to his spell, Pakistan’s score reached 52 runs for 5 wickets at half time. Then captain Salman Agha and Shadab Khan made a partnership of 54 runs in 35 balls, but Pakistan lost its last five wickets in just 22 runs and was all out for 128 runs.
Chasing the target of 129 runs, New Zealand openers Finn Allen (27) and Seifert once again performed brilliantly to take the hosts to 92/1, which is the highest powerplay score in T20 history so far. Soon after, Sufiyan dismissed Mukeem Allen and Mark Chapman. But Seifert, who was also named Player of the Series, tore apart Pakistan’s bowlers, hitting four sixes in Shadab Khan’s last over, including three consecutive sixes, to swing both the match and the series in New Zealand’s favour.
After the win, Seifert said, “There was only one way to play. I wanted to play the way I wanted to play. The wickets kept bouncing. Tonight, some shots stopped me from going. You watch the match above. Finn helped. We have played together. He is a great partner. It is a lot of fun playing with him. A few weeks with the family and then I am off to the PSL. Some of these players will become my friends there.” Brief scores: Pakistan 128/9 in 20 overs (Salman Agha 51, Shadab Khan 28; James Neesham 5-22) lost to New Zealand 131/2 in 10 overs (Tim Seifert 97, Sufiyan Muqim 2-6) by eight wickets.
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