New Zealand will go into the ODI series against Pakistan in good heart after a series-levelling 17-run win in the second and last T20 clash in Dubai today.
Having been well beaten in the opening game 24 hours earlier, New Zealand responded well to win with seven balls to spare.
Sent in again, New Zealand found batting tough going on a slowish pitch, but useful contributions from captain Kane Williamson, wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi and Tom Latham enabled them to reach 144 for seven.
Pakistan were in difficulties early as part time left arm spinner Anton Devcich nipped out Sarfraz Ahmed and Mohammed Hafeez inside his first nine deliveries.
From 24 for three it was uphill for the hosts, but a 40-run stand between Ahmed Shezhad and Saad Nasim had them back in the contest.
With five overs left, Pakistan were 91 for five, two runs and one wicket behind New Zealand at the same point.
Big hitting captain Shahid Afridi slammed 28 off 10 balls to the crowd’s unbridled delight, before being given out caught behind off medium pacer Jimmy Neesham, which killed of Pakistan’s hopes.
Neesham finished with three for 25 off his three overs. Senior seamer Kyle Mills took three for 26 from 3.5 overs and Devcich followed his run-a-ball 21 with two for 16 from four.
The five-game ODI series starts on the same ground on Tuesday morning (NZT).
New Zealand
AP Devcich b Mohammad Hafeez 21
KS Williamson b Shahid Afridi 32
DG Brownlie lbw b Shahid Afridi 0
LRPL Taylor lbw b Raza Hasan 7
TWM Latham c Anwar Ali b Umar Gul 26
L Ronchi† c Ahmed Shehzad b Sohail Tanvir 31
JDS Neesham not out 7
DL Vettori b Umar Gul 0
NL McCullum run out (Ahmed Shehzad/†Sarfraz Ahmed) 4
KD Mills not out 6
Extras (w 10) 10
Total (8 wickets; 20 overs; 86 mins) 144
Did not batMJ Henry
Fall of wickets 1-49 (Devcich, 6.6 ov), 2-50 (Brownlie, 7.3 ov), 3-58 (Williamson, 9.6 ov), 4-78 (Taylor, 12.5 ov), 5-116 (Latham, 16.4 ov), 6-127 (Ronchi, 17.6 ov), 7-127 (Vettori, 18.3 ov), 8-136 (McCullum, 19.1 ov)
Bowling
Anwar Ali 2-0-13-0, Sohail Tanvir 4-0-30-1, Umar Gul 4-0-24-2, Raza Hasan 4-0-24-1, Mohammad Hafeez 2-0-20-1, Shahid Afridi 4-0-33-2
Pakistan
Sarfraz Ahmed lbw b Devcich 1
Ahmed Shehzad b Vettori 33
Mohammad Hafeez c & b Devcich 9
Haris Sohail c Latham b Henry 3
Saad Nasim c Brownlie b Neesham 19
Umar Akmal b Neesham 10
Shahid Afridi c †Ronchi b Neesham 28
Anwar Ali c Williamson b Mills 2
Sohail Tanvir c Devcich b Mills 11
Umar Gul c Taylor b Mills 0
Raza Hasan not out 0
Extras (lb 7, w 3, nb 1) 11
Total (all out; 18.5 overs; 85 mins) 127
Fall of wickets 1-2 (Sarfraz Ahmed, 0.4 ov), 2-18 (Mohammad Hafeez, 2.3 ov), 3-24 (Haris Sohail, 4.4 ov), 4-64 (Saad Nasim, 11.4 ov), 5-74 (Ahmed Shehzad, 14.1 ov), 6-97 (Umar Akmal, 15.5 ov), 7-104 (Anwar Ali, 16.5 ov), 8-121 (Shahid Afridi, 17.6 ov), 9-122 (Umar Gul, 18.3 ov), 10-127 (Sohail Tanvir, 18.5 ov)
Bowling
AP Devcich 4-0-16-2, MJ Henry 2-0-9-1, KD Mills 3.5-0-26-3, NL McCullum 3-0-16-0, DL Vettori 3-0-28-1, JDS Neesham 3-0-25-3
MATCH DETAILS
Toss – Pakistan, who chose to field
Series – 2-match series drawn 1-1
Player of the match – tba
Umpires – Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and Shozab Raza (Pakistan)
TV umpire – Ahmed Shahab (Pakistan)
Match referee – RS Mahanama (Sri Lanka)
Reserve umpire – Ahsan Raza (Pakistan)
