Pakistan continued their dominance in the ongoing T20 World Cup as they defeated New Zealand by five wickets in Sharjah on Tuesday (October 26).
Opting to bowl first, Pakistan restricted the Kiwis to a below-par 134/8 in 20 overs. Pacer Haris Rauf starred with the ball, claiming four wickets by conceding 22 runs in his four overs.
It was a disappointing batting performance from New Zealand as no one even managed to touch the 30-run mark. Daryl Mitchell and Devon Conway top scored with 27-run each.
In reply, Pakistan were expected to chase down the total easily but they had a bit of hard time. Ish Sodhi dismissed Fakhar Zaman (11) and Mohammad Rizwan (33) while Tim Southee and Mitchell Santner got rid of Babar Azam (9) and Mohammad Hafeez (11) to reduce Pakistan to 69/4 in 11.4 overs.
Imad Wasim also fell cheaply as Pakistan slipped to 87/5. Needing 48 to win off 31 balls, Asif Ali (27* off 12 balls) arrived in the middle to partner Shoaib Malik (26* off 20 balls) and the duo stayed unbeaten to take their team over the line with 8 balls to spare.
It was a special victory for Babar Azam and his men as it came almost a month after New Zealand pulled out of the Pakistan tour at the eleventh hour citing security reasons, leaving the Pakistani cricket fraternity in dismay.
After the game, cricket fraternity took to Twitter and lauded the Pakistan team for another special performance in the T20 World Cup.
Check out the reactions:
