The Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium hosted the fifth T20 International between Pakistan and New Zealand.
New Zealand, Tom Latham won the toss and decided to bowl first. Jimmy Neesham and Blair Tickner have replaced Cole McConchie and Matt Henry, who is out with a slight injury.
Mohammad Haris and Ihsanullah Khan have both replaced Fakhar Zaman and Zaman Khan in Pakistan, respectively.
Pakistan opening batsmen Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam. For Pakistan, Adam Milne bowled the first pitch.
Both teams got off to a strong start in Rawalpindi.
Mohammad Rizwan, who struck two sixes off Rachin Ravindra in the second over, gave Pakistan a quick start.
Pakistan scored 113 runs in the final 10 overs and gave New Zealand a difficult target of 194 to win the series.
Babar Azam was out for only 19 runs. The team was under pressure when the Pakistani captain was knocked out.
The best player was Mohammad Rizwan, who scored a brilliant 98 off 62 balls but went agonizingly short of his second T20I hundred. Seven fours and four sixes were included in his inning.
After New Zealand threatened to rip through the middle order with three quick wickets before the midway point of the game, Pakistan was saved by cameos from Iftikhar Ahmed (36 off 22) and Imad Wasim (31 off 14).
The bowler of New Zealand was Blair Tickner, who finished with 3-33 in four overs.
New Zealand defeated Pakistan in the series’ fifth and final T20I because of outstanding batting from Mark Chapman.
With the victory, New Zealand was able to tie the five-match series at 2-2.
New Zealand completed the task of chasing 194 runs in 19.2 overs.
In the opening over of the innings, Shaheen Afridi removed both the captain, Tom Latham, and Will Young, giving New Zealand a disastrous start in the run chase.
The man of the match was Mark Chapman, who scored 104* and teamed up with Jimmy Neesham for an unbroken partnership of 121 runs from 58 balls, taking his team from virtually out of the game to an eventual victory that was quite easy.
Following the five-match T20 series, Pakistan and New Zealand will play five one-day internationals to polish their strategies for this year’s 50-over World Cup in India.
Shaheen Afridi, the standout fast bowler for Pakistan, set a new milestone in this 5th T20I on Monday by taking his 200th T20I wicket against New Zealand.
