Player of the Match
Player of the Match

Match Centre

Statistics

Best performances - Batsmen

Mohammad Rizwan
Mohammad Rizwan
38(38) 4x4 - 0x6
Control %73%
  • Productive Shot
  • flick
  • 9 runs
  • 0x4 - 0x6
1 6 7 4 10 1 5 4
Fakhar Zaman
Fakhar Zaman
33(16) 1x4 - 4x6
Control %68%
  • Productive Shot
  • pull
  • 12 runs
  • 0x4 - 2x6
0 0 3 6 12 0 11 1

Best performances - Bowlers

Iftikhar Ahmed
Iftikhar Ahmed
O4
M0
R24
W3
Eco6.00
RHB
OFFLEG
2W1W
  • FTFULL TOSS
  • YYORKER
  • FFULL LENGTH
  • GGOOD LENGTH
  • SGSHORT OF GOOD LENGTH
  • SSHORT LENGTH
LHB
LEGOFF
Mohammad Nawaz(3)
Mohammad Nawaz(3)
O4
M0
R18
W2
Eco4.50
RHB
OFFLEG
1W
  • FTFULL TOSS
  • YYORKER
  • FFULL LENGTH
  • GGOOD LENGTH
  • SGSHORT OF GOOD LENGTH
  • SSHORT LENGTH
LHB
LEGOFF
1W

Match Details

Toss

Pakistan , elected to bat first

Player Of The Match

Player Of The Series

Series result

New Zealand won the 5-match series 4-1

Match number

Season

Hours of play (local time)

13.00 start, First Session 13.00-14.30, Interval 14.30-14.50, Second Session 14.50-16.20

Match days

21 January 2024 (20-over match)

TV Umpires

Reserve Umpire

Match Referee

Scorer: M Venkat Raghav | Commentator: Rvel Zahid

Mitchell Santner, New Zealand Captain: The pitch slowed down a lot and we were pretty happy with the score. We just got outplayed in the second innings. The power play was very important on a slow wicket. We talk about trying to take it deep but it's good learning

Iftikhar Ahmed, Player of the Match: I read the wicket and bowled accordingly, wicket was turning so I tried to bowl wicket by wicket. Yes it was decided that I will bowl today, Shaheen told me before the game and I was preparing for it. If captain wants, I am available to bowl as I have performed previously and will continue the same way.

Shaheen Afridi, Pakistan Captain: Ifti (Iftikhar) is a very experienced player and he's always ready for the bowling but we wanted to give everyone a proper chance so we were planning to give chances to youngsters this series, we sorted out 16-20 players (for the World Cup). I want to thank everyone, the crowd was fantastic.

Finn Allen, Player of the series: I've been trying to be a bit more consistent and assess the conditions quicker

It was Pakistan's day, finally something to cheer about for the team and Pakistan fans alike. Shaheen Afridi wins his first game as captain. It was a power-packed performance and a convincing win in the last T20I of the five match series that ends on 4-1. The bowling delivered as a unit today and Nawaz was tight in the powerplay - smart move to introduce spin early on - that helped them built the pressure.

Economical stuff from all of the bowlers and once Pakistan triggered a wobble at the top, New Zealand had little resistance to offer. Earlier, that crucial partnership between Mohammad Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman - where he played the role of the aggressor - helped Pakistan scrap their way to a fighting total. Babar Azam didn't come out to field today. He had issues with his hamstring in the last game and looked off-colour today.

Pakistan enjoyed bowling in conditions that had plenty of assistance for the spinners, and the decision to bring on Iftikhar Ahmed paid rich dividends. It was baffling how he didn't bowl at all in the previous games, as Shaheen Afridi said they wanted to try newcomers, and the aim was to get the combination right. I'll leave that for you to make sense of because I, for one, cannot fathom a lack of concern about winning contests, even though it's a World Cup preparation series but winning is important too.

New Zealand bossed the series for four games and dropped their in-form batter Daryl Mitchell for this one. Kane Williamson missed the last three games due to hamstring strain, and despite the shuffling, New Zealand were fiercely competitive, showing their strong bench strength throughout the series. Today, they didn't look comfortable against spin, in particular, and just went into a shell as the asking rate crept up.

Pakistan finally breaks the hoodoo after a 3-0 defeat, albeit in a highly engrossing Test series in Australia, and four losses on the trot in New Zealand. New Zealand will now turn their attention toward the Test series against South Africa, while Pakistan players will get ready for the ninth edition of the Pakistan Super League, which will kick off on 17th February. We hope you will join us for more cricket coverage!

Thank you for your company throughout the series. Until we meet again, it is goodbye from me, Rvel Zahid, and the entire team at ESPNcricinfo

17.2
W
Shaheen Shah Afridi to Ferguson, OUT, Demolishes him with a yorker, goes full on middle, that's how you bowl at tailenders, he tries to whang him over midwicket but beaten by the pace and late away movement and that'll be the end of the match. Who would have thought 134 would be enough on this wicket but Pakistan have beaten New Zealand by a hefty margin of 42 runs after a brilliant bowling performance

LH Ferguson b Shaheen Shah Afridi 0 (1m 1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00

Pakistan's 134/8 is the lowest 20-over total any team successfully defended in men's T20Is in New Zealand. Previous lowest was 156/6 by Australia in 2021

Also, it's only the second instance of New Zealand getting bowled under 100 in men's T20Is at home. Other instance was 80/10 in 2010, also against Pakistan in Christchurch (AMI Stadium).

Hamza: "Pakistan seem so much better in the field today. Let's hope this is the start of something."

Sherry : "Iftikhar won the match single handedly for Pakistan.Gotta appreciate Shaheen for good captaincy and bowling changes.I hope this would be a lesson for Shaheen that Iftikhar can be a very handy bowler and he would have rued his decision of not letting him bowl in the previous matches."

Aby Mathew: "Finally a morale boosting win for pak after the barren run in aus and nz."

Memon: "I think dropping Haris Rauf was the best decision for this match. He was the one conceding way too many runs and wasting the efforts of the other bowlers. "

17.1
W
Shaheen Shah Afridi to Phillips, OUT, That is a fabulous running catch from Abbas Afridi at deep midwicket, covered a lot of ground while running to his left and made sure to catch it under his eyes. That was New Zealand's last hope and he is dismissed for 26. Seems like Pakistan will get the consolation win

GD Phillips c Abbas Afridi b Shaheen Shah Afridi 26 (33m 22b 1x4 1x6) SR: 118.18

END OF OVER:
17 | 13 Runs | NZ: 92/8 (43 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 5.41, RRR: 14.33)

  • Glenn Phillips26 (21b)
  • Tim Southee4 (6b)
  • Iftikhar Ahmed4-0-24-3
  • Shaheen Shah Afridi3-0-20-0

Luqman : "Hey, a cricket novice here. I'm really curious about what's different today. Is it because the ground has changed? Or is New Zealand not playing at full strength? Or is Pakistan genuinely performing better?" Good bowling changes and Iftikhar made the difference too

16.6
1
Iftikhar Ahmed to Phillips, 1 run, pulled away in the air, didn't get all of it, charges in but can't hold onto it, catchable again but Phillips gets another life
16.5
6
Iftikhar Ahmed to Phillips, SIX, Sahibza Farhan can't take a juggling catch at deep midwicket, shimmied down leg and he follows him up, he is committed to the shot and goes hard at it, Farhan was at the rope and got his hands to it but it was a bit too high, couldn't flick it in the air and then come back to complete the catch, it's common to see such catches taken in modern day cricket
16.4
4
Iftikhar Ahmed to Phillips, FOUR, finally a boundary to break the shackles! tosses this one up just outside off, powerfully rasped through cover for a four

Imran Khan: "Thank you Rvel for not publishing my earlier comment when I questioned Iftikhar presence in the team :p" He silenced all his critics, eh?

16.3
1
Iftikhar Ahmed to Southee, 1 run, not much timing and the ball bobbles down to long on

New Zealand 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st12FH AllenR Ravindra
2nd18TL SeifertFH Allen
3rd23WA YoungTL Seifert
4th1MS ChapmanTL Seifert
5th10TL SeifertGD Phillips
6th5MJ SantnerGD Phillips
7th1MJ HenryGD Phillips
8th2IS SodhiGD Phillips
9th20TG SoutheeGD Phillips
10th0TG SoutheeLH Ferguson