2nd T20 Match PAK Vs NZ 2018
PAK Vs NZ MAtch
Pakistan Beat The New Zealand
In
2nd T20 Match
Pakistan - 155/8 20/20 ov RR: 7.75
Pakistan
win by 6 wickets
T20 02 of 03 (PAK Lead 2-0)

Pakistan - 154/4 19.4/20 ov RR: 7.83
New Zealand - 153/7 20/20 ov RR: 7.65
v
Pakistan
coast to 11th T20I series win in a row
v
Southee
dismisses Azam, Kiwi's fight back
v
Zaman
falls, Babar keeps scoring rate up for Pakistan
v
Corey
Anderson lifts Kiwis over 150
v
Munro
falls after rapid start, Pakistan fight back
A superb spell from Shaheen Shah
Afridi and a solid performance from Pakistan's top five was enough to see them
to a victory which sealed the T20I series over New Zealand, leading 2-0 with a
game to play.

After choosing to bat first, New
Zealand were given a rapid start by Colin Munro, who smashed 44 off just 28
balls. His belligerence made up for the struggles of Glenn Phillips at the
other end. By the time he edged behind to the penultimate ball of the Powerplay,
New Zealand had 50, and he had just 5 off 12.

Munro fell soon after, advancing
down the track and only managing an inside edge as Mohammad Hafeez pulled his
length back. Sarfraz Ahmed gathered the ball and stumped him easily. When Colin
de Grandhomme and Ross Taylor both fell for single figures – the former holing
out to long-on off Imad Wasim, and the latter run out by a swift run in,
gather, and throw by Asif Ali as he came back for the second – New Zealand were
struggling at 83/4, and Pakistan’s squeeze through spin was well underway.

New Zealand repaired after early damage New
Zealand repaired after early damage
The Kiwi captain, Kane
Williamson, was still there; he just needed someone to stick with him, and he
found a willing ally in Corey Anderson. Together they added 42 sensible runs,
and when Williamson fell to the first ball of Shaheen’s third over, timing a
leg-stump half volley too well and straight into the hands of deep backward
square leg, New Zealand were set for a big finish, Anderson having smashed the
previous three balls for two fours and a six.
But despite Anderson and Tim
Seifert taking 16 off the penultimate over, and Seifert scooping the first ball
of the 20th for six, Shaheen reeled them in. He conceded one run from the last
five balls of the 18th, and five from the last five of the last, in which time
Seifert holed out to long-on and Tim Southee was run out getting Anderson back
on strike. The 18-year-old finished with stellar figures of 3/20.
Asif Ali played an important hand Asif Ali
played an important hand
New Zealand still ended with
153/7, and with Pakistan having only chased 150-plus targets on one occasion
out of seven in the UAE, the game was set up intriguingly.
For a time however, it seemed
Pakistan would do it easily. Though Fakhar Zaman fell for 24 to a stunning
catch by Williamson at mid-off, he had already given his side a fast start, and
Babar Azam and Asif Ali built on it sensibly. The former is the No.1 ranked
batsman in the ICC MRF Tyres T20I rankings, and he showed all the calmness and
consistency that had got him to that position.
Pakistan strung together multiple partnerships
Pakistan strung together multiple partnerships
The pair steered Pakistan to
96/1, but when Babar fell, mis-timing a Southee slower ball to mid-off, the
game turned, and after two tight overs Pakistan needed 50 off the last five.
A huge six from Asif off Munro
looked to have alleviated the pressure, only for the big hitter to miss a full
toss and be LBW the next ball. With two new batsmen in, and 10 an over still
required, New Zealand were perhaps marginal favourites.
Instead, the cool, experienced
heads of Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik released the tension. Two Hafeez
sixes in three balls sucked the wind right out of the Blackcaps' sails, and
though he almost fell to the next ball, striking just short of Phillips at
midwicket, another six, this time from Shoaib, in the next over was another
sucker-punch to the Kiwis.
Wickets kept New Zealand in the hunt Wickets
kept New Zealand in the hunt
Pakistan needed 14 from 12, and
the game was as good as done. Eight off the next seven kept New Zealand
theoretically in it, and it felt more than theoretical when Shoaib holed out on
the second ball of the last over, bowled by Adam Milne.
But
Hafeez kept his cool, pinching two and then striking four to seal victory with
six wickets and two balls remaining.
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