Watch cricket video highlights between Pakistan vs New Zealand. New Zealand tour of Pakistan 2024 third twenty/20 International match, played at Rawalpindi.
The series that New Zealand plays in Pakistan is always competitive, regardless of who plays for them each year. Following a lackluster showing in the second Twenty20 International, a New Zealand team led by Mark Chapman easily defeated Pakistan in the third to tie the series at one wicket. Pakistan managed to score 178 runs, but Chapman finished with an explosive unbeaten 87 off 42 balls, allowing the visitors to reach their target with 10 balls and seven wickets remaining.
When a similarly under-strength team returned in April 2023, Chapman was the most remarkable player in New Zealand and easily continued where he left off. Tim Robinson and Tim Seifert, two big-hitters for New Zealand, got off to a great start, but they both fell to Abbas Afridi and Naseem Shah in the span of seven balls, respectively. At that moment, the pursuit felt very much in danger of being railroaded off course, with inexperience ahead of it and Babar Azam having an amazing array of bowling options.
However, Chapman showed that he was more than just a power hitter when he began dismantling the formidable team of Shadab Khan and Abrar Ahmed. Knowing that the goal wasn’t significant enough to need careless labor, he used the field to select boundaries in three of the two bowled overs in a row. When Naseem mishandled a reasonably easy chance after a misplaced sweep, it was a disastrous slice of luck that saw the batsman retreat for a wayward Iftikhar Ahmed over.
The respite ultimately came at a high cost to Pakistan. When Iftikhar returned to the field, he was met with no respect at all. He hit a massive six over his head, and as Chapman guided New Zealand towards Pakistan’s total with apparent skill, his flare also started to show. Because he would not only accomplish their objective, but also provide a psychological blow to New Zealand by destroying their two most valuable fast bowlers.
After two boundaries and a six in the fifteenth over reduced the asking rate to less than nine, Shaheen Shah Afridi was the first to take the brunt. Babar quickly got his best player, Naseem, back into the game, but he was in for more trouble. A pulled four, a carved six, a carved four, and a straight six. His first four deliveries went in exactly that manner, ensuring Pakistan’s defeat in a 23-run over that saw the needed rate drop to less than one run per ball.
While Dean Foxcroft was a capable backup, it’s probably necessary to mention that at this point, but this was really a one-man show. In a partnership that lasted 117 runs, Foxcroft hit just two boundaries, and Chapman ended up hitting at a rate that was more than double that of Foxcroft, who found it difficult to maintain a strike rate over 100. Pakistan would understandably consider the effectiveness of their death bowling, but the fact that it only required one person to search for what they were able to do begs the issue of how sufficient that first innings total was.
In sharp contrast to the surface on Saturday, Babar stated that the pitch on which Pakistan was placed to bat was the usual batting-friendly strip Rawalpindi is known for. However, Pakistan’s strategy for determining a target appropriate for such a pitch was, at best, disorganized. Saim Ayub launched the team on his signature flyer, but New Zealand’s bowlers, namely Zak Foulkes, Ish Sodhi, and Will O’Rourke, continued finding ways to stifle Pakistan’s momentum with tight overs.
That became particularly evident when Ayub left and Babar and Mohammad Rizwan teamed up two balls after the powerplay concluded. As Pakistan’s impetus subsided in the sixth and eleventh overs, New Zealand gave up just 36 runs, with Rizwan, in particular, failing to locate the gaps he so deftly exploits during the powerplay. Shortly after, he would leave the game due to a hamstring injury, but captain Michael Bracewell managed to get the Pakistan captain to give him a bogus shot, which allowed him to continue.
Pakistan would ramble for a few more overs, but the entrance of Shadab Khan gave their innings direction. The run rate had dropped to 8.07 by now, but he started the innings with two boundaries in his first four deliveries, which set the stage for an innings in which he hit 41 off 20. Pakistan started to blast their way back towards a competitive total alongside Irfan Niazi. Unfairly for New Zealand, Bracewell, whose bowling had kept Pakistan at bay, was the one who faced the most criticism during their explosive stand, as they hammered his last over for 19 runs.
But once more, New Zealand prevailed, thanks to two tight last-overs from Jacob Duffy and Foulkes that kept Pakistan’s score below 180. Pakistan may have believed that their performance against a weak New Zealand team was sufficient, but in T20 cricket, there are seldom many safe havens for low scoring teams.
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