In the fourth T20 match, New Zealand defeated Pakistan by 4 runs to take a 1-2 lead in the series. Chasing 179 runs by the Kiwis, the national team might only score 174 runs for the loss of 8 wickets.
In the fourth T20 match of the series played at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan won the toss and invited New Zealand to bat first.
New Zealand’s batting
From the New Zealand side, Tom Blundell and Tim Robinson started the innings in a positive manner and scored 56 runs in 5 overs while batting aggressively, but on the same score, Zaman Khan dismissed Tom Blundell who made 28 runs off 15 balls.
From the other end, Tim Robinson played the best game and showed aggressive batting to complete his half-century in just 35 balls.
New Zealand scored 93 runs in 10 overs but Abbas Afridi ended Robinson’s innings of 51 runs with 2 sixes and 4 fours at the score of 94 in the 11th over.
New Zealand’s third wicket fell on 128 when third match hero Mark Chapman was caught by Shadab Khan off Abdul Iftikhar Ahmed for just 8 runs.
New Zealand’s fourth wicket fell on 132 when Dean Foxcroft was caught by Fakhar Zaman off Usama Mir following scoring 34 runs. The fifth wicket fell on 169 when Michael Bracewell was caught by Iftikhar Ahmed off Abbas Afridi following scoring 27 runs.
New Zealand’s sixth wicket fell on 169 when Josh Clarkson was bowled by Abbas Afridi for a wicket, seventh wicket fell on 178 when Ish Sodhi was caught out by Iftikhar Ahmed off Mohammad Amir for 5 runs. James Neesham scored 11 runs and was not out.
The best bowling from Pakistan was done by Abbas Afridi, he dismissed 3 players for 20 runs in 3 overs while Mohammad Amir, Zaman Khan, Osama Mir and Iftikhar Ahmed dismissed one player each.
Thus, New Zealand scored 178 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in the allotted 20 overs and gave Pakistan a target of 179 runs to win.
Pakistan’s innings
Chasing the target of 179 runs given by New Zealand, Pakistan suffered a huge loss at the beginning of the innings and in the second over, captain Babar Azam returned to the pavilion following scoring only 5 runs.
Saeem Ayub once once more failed to play a big innings and walked out following scoring 20 runs for a total score of 40 while Usman might only score 16 runs.
After the fall of three wickets for 46 runs, Shadab Khan came to support Fakhar Zaman and the two together took the score to 79 but Shadab, who scored 8 runs, became the wicket of Bracewell.
From the second end, Fakhar continued his excellent game and made a partnership of 59 runs with Iftikhar to take the score to 138.
At this point, the match seemed to be in Pakistan’s grip, but following Iftikhar who scored 23 runs, Fakhar, who played an innings of 61 runs, was dismissed one following another, and the dice of the match turned in favor of New Zealand.
In the final overs, Imad Wasim scored 22 runs off 11 balls and tried to bring the team to the threshold of victory, but his efforts also went in vain.
On behalf of New Zealand, William O’Rourke took 3 wickets while Ben Sears took 2 wickets while Michael Bracewell and Jimmy Neesham dismissed one player each.
The Pakistan team managed to score 174 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in the allotted overs and thus New Zealand won the match by 4 runs and took the lead in the series by 1-2.
Fakhiz Zaman played a brilliant innings of 61 runs but might not lead the team to victory, besides Iftikhar Ahmed 23, Saeem Ayub 20 and Usman Khan scored 16 runs while Imad Wasim remained not out with 22 runs.
William O’Rourke took 3 wickets for New Zealand. Ben Sears struck out 2 while Michael Bracewell and Jimmy Nesham struck out one each.
Toss of the match
In the match being played at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, Pakistan captain Babar Azam won the toss and decided to field. He said that he decided to bowl due to the dew factor.
Babar Azam said that 2 of our players are injured, 5 changes have been made for this match, Mohammad Amir, Imad Wasim, Fakhar Zaman and Zaman Khan have been included in the playing XI.
The national team captain added that Mohammad Rizwan and Irfan Khan are unfit while Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah have been rested.
The New Zealand captain said that there have been 3 changes in the team but I don’t remember the names.
Changes in the Pakistan team
Pakistan cricket team’s key players Muhammad Rizwan and Muhammad Irfan Khan Niazi have been out of the series due to injury, following which Pakistan has made important changes in its playing XI.
In place of injured Irfan Niazi, Imad Wasim, Osama Mir in place of Abrar Ahmed and Fakhar Zaman in place of Rizwan have been included in the team.
Apart from this, Mohammad Amir and Zaman Khan, who sat out in the third T20I, were included in the playing XI while Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah were rested.
Pakistan Playing XI
Pakistan playing XI includes Babar Azam (Captain), Saeem Ayub, Usman Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Osama Mir, Abbas Afridi, Muhammad Amir and Zaman Khan.
New Zealand Playing XI
New Zealand Playing XI: TA Blundell (wicket keeper), TB Robinson, D Foxcroft, MS Chapman, JDS Neesham, Michael Bracewell (captain), JA Clarkson, Ish Sodhi, JA Duffy, BV Sears , including W. O. Rourke.
It should be noted that the Pakistan New T20 series is tied at 1-1, while the first match of the series was rained out, while in the second match, Pakistan defeated New Zealand by 7 wickets and in the third match, the visiting team also won by the same margin.
The fifth and final match of the series between the two teams is also scheduled for April 27 in Lahore.
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2024-04-26 18:38:19
