DUNEDIN – Confident New Zealand wrapped the T20I series against Pakistan, winning third game and now eye on whitewashing Men in Green.
The hosts, after winning first two games of the 5-match series, posted a strong total of 224, courtesy of quick ton from Finn Allen. The right-handed batter played a massive knock of 137 for Kiwis, taking the record from former player Brendon McCullum.
Finn Allen produced the highest individual score by a New Zealand batter in T20I history 🇳🇿
More records ➡️ https://t.co/RlsPoh5tjI pic.twitter.com/FVjriAFlXh
— ICC (@ICC) January 17, 2024
In his second T20I century, Allen helped the Black Caps clinch the series at University Oval today on Wednesday. Taking the third consecutive game, Kiwis now attain an unassailable lead of 3-0.
Shaheen Afridi invited New Zealand to bat first but Finn Allen turned the game with hitting fire from the start. NZ’s opening player Devon Conway returned early and Tim Seifert replaced injured captain Kane Williamson.
The duo then stitched a 125-run partnership for the third wicket, scoring 83 runs from 38.
Tim Seifert played a knock of 31 before he was caught by young and talented Pakistani player Saim Ayub at deep midwicket.
Pakistan’s Zaman Khan took the key wicket of Finn Allen, paving way for Pakistan bowlers to make a comeback but hosts continued charge, and ended up scoring 224 runs in their allocated 20 overs.
For Team Green, pacer Haris Rauf got two wickets at the expense of 60.
In chase of not so easy 225-run target, the Asian side lost opening batter Saim Ayub cheaply with 23 runs on the board.
Vice Captain Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam later took charge and scored 24 and 58 runs respectively. Mitchell Santner removed Rizwan.
No other player contributed to the crucial game, Fakhar Zaman scored 19, and Azam Khan returned at 10.
Babar Azam however stayed at the pitch for some time and he scored third consecutive half-century, 58 off 37, courtesy of eight boundaries and one maximum. Nawaz and Afridi then added 40 runs. The latter remained unbeaten at 16 off 11 as Men in Green managed 179-7 in 20 overs.
For NZ, Tim Southee led the bowling attack with 2 key scalps, while Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Santner and Sodhi got one wicket each.
PAKvNZ: New Zealand beat Pakistan by 21 runs in second T20I to take 2-0 lead
