Pakistan had to chase a daunting 174 to avoid a clean sweep which they did on the back of Muhammad Rizwan’s magnificent 89 off 59. His innings included 10 fours and three towering sixes. Pakistan started well with Rizwan and Haider putting on 40 in the power play. Haider was dismissed by Scott Kuggeleijn on 11.
Hafeez played like he has played throughout this year and made an effortless 41 off just 29. In partnership, the professor and Rizwan knitted 72 runs. It seemed like Pakistan will canter home with 10 runs required off the last two overs but two back to back wickets from Tim Southee sent some jitters in the Pakistani dressing room and when Rizwan fell to Jamieson in the last over, it felt like Pakistan may screw this up. But Iftikhar made sure there were no further hiccups as he finished the game with a six on the leg side.
Earlier, Pakistan won the toss and elected to field first. Martin Guptill and Tim Seifert gave a brisk start by posting 40 in the first four overs. Haris Rauf broke the partnership after removing Guptill. Faheem Ashraf soon followed and picked up two crucial wickets of captain Kane Williamson and Tim Seifert and put Kiwis on the backfoot.
Just when it felt like Pakistan were gaining ascendancy, Glenn Phillips and Devan Conway stitched together a partnership of 51- runs. Glenn made 31 off 20 while Conway scored 63 off 45 with seven boundaries and one six to post 173 on the board.
As far as the bowling was concerned, Muhammad Hasnain who was playing his first game on the tour bowled pretty well but was unlucky not to get a wicket. Faheem Ashraf was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3 for 20 in his four. Haris Rauf and Shaheen Shah bagged two apiece. Captain Shadab Khan’s poor run in the series continued.
