LAHORE: A brilliant captain’s innings of 69 by Babar Azam, followed by a good knock of 43 by Fakhar Zaman, guided Pakistan to 178 for 5 in the fifth and final contest of the T20 series being played at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, today.
Earlier, winning the toss, New Zealand invited Pakistan to bat first. Pakistan lost its first wicket very early when Will O’Rourke dismissed Saim Ayub in the second over for just 1 run. He was replaced by Usman Khan, who, along with Babar, pushed the scoreboard ahead. Both provided a 73-run partnership for the team before Usman Khan lost his wicket on 31 runs. After Usman Khan, Fakhar joined Babar, and both consolidated the innings.
Meanwhile, Babar completed his half-century. He seemed to be in good touch and managed to accelerate the innings. However, on the last ball of the 15th over, Sear got rid of Babar Azam. He scored a valuable 69 runs off 44 balls, including 2 sixes and 6 boundaries. He was replaced by Iftikhar.
Despite losing Babar, Fakhar Zaman charged against the Kiwi bowlers from the other end and produced some good strokes towards the boundary line. In the 19th over, Pakistan lost their 4th wicket when Sears dismissed Iftikhar for 6. At that stage, Pakistan were 159 for 4 in 18.3 overs. In the final over, Fakhar also got out after having a fine knock of 43 runs. Pakistan scored 178 for the loss of 5 wickets in 20 overs.
From New Zealand Ben Sears, James Neesham, Will O’Rourke, Zak Foulkes and Ish Sodhi got one wicket each.
Pakistan Sqaud: Babar Azam (c), Saim Ayub, Usman Khan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Shaheen Afridi, Usama Mir, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir
New Zealand Squad: Michael Bracewell (c), Tom Blundell, Mark Chapman, Josh Clarkson, Zak Foulkes, Cole McConchie, James Neesham, Will O’Rourke, Ben Sears, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi
