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NZ vs PAK, Fifth T20I: Pakistan registers consolation win, as the hosts take the series by 4-1

NZ vs PAK, Fifth T20I: Pakistani all-rounder Iftikhar Ahmed was named player of the match, while Kiwi batter Finn Allen was named player of the series.

Aditya Kaushik
Pakistan vs NZ

New Delhi: The newly appointed Pakistani T20I skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi finally got to taste success as the skipper for his national team after four losses in a row against the New Zealand cricket team, as they won the fifth and final match of the ongoing five-match series.

Despite winning the final match, the Pakistani cricket team conceded the series to the hosts by 4 to 1.

Shaheen Afridi, who was appointed as the Pakistani cricket team’s skipper for the shortest format, i.e., T20 Internationals, was under the firing radar after losing four matches in a row in his forest outing as a skipper.

However, the Pakistani star bowler will draw confidence from this win and will try to continue the momentum en route to the ICC T20I World Cup later this year in the USA and West Indies.

As it happened

Earlier, Pakistani captain Shaheen Afridi won the toss and opted to bat first, but the decision turned out to be a disaster as they lost their opener, Haseebullah Khan (0), on the third ball of the innings itself.

Although it took New Zealand 56 deliveries to take the second wicket, they didn’t allow Babar Azam (13) and Md. Rizwan (38) to play freely, as before Babar was removed on the fifth ball of the tenth over, Pakistan only had 53 runs on the board.

However, Fakhar Zaman’s 33 off 16 and Abbas Afridi’s 14 not-out of 6 took the innings total to a fighting 134 for 8.

Tim Southee, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson and Ish Sodhi all took two wickets each for the Black Caps.

In reply, except for Finn Allen (22) and Glenn Phillips (26), no other Kiwi batsmen were able even to touch the 20 runs mark as the whole team was packed up on just 92, giving the visitors an easy 42 runs victory.

Iftikhar Ahmed was the most successful bowler for the men in green, with three wickets under his belt. Shaheen Afridi and Md. Nawaz took two wickets each, while Zaman Khan and Usama Mir also took one wicket each.

Netizens react

Netizens on X (Formerly known as Twitter) also reacted to Pakistan’s consolation win in their own style.

Check out their reaction below: