Nothing seems to be going in favour of the Pakistan senior men’s cricket team at the moment as the Babar Azam-led suffered a crushing four-run defeat to an understrength New Zealand in the 4th T20I on Thursday. The defeat at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore was their second in as many matches after Pakistan won the second game, while the series-opener was washed out due to rain. The hosts trail 1-2 in the five-match series with the final game, also in Lahore, on Saturday.
Pakistan needed 18 off the last over in their chase of 179 but veteran all-rounder James Neesham came out on top despite being hit for a boundary off the first ball, leaving the home fans heartbroken.
To New Zealand’s joy, Neesham defended six runs off the final ball. On the contrary, the Pakistan fans were dishearted as young kids broke down in tears after the disappointing loss.
Coming back to the match, Kiwi opener Tim Robinson hit a maiden half-century to lift New Zealand to 178-7 in 20 overs before pacer William O’Rourke claimed 3-27 to help restrict Pakistan to 174-8.
Fakhar Zaman (61) lifted Pakistan from 79-4 with a 59-run stand for the fifth wicket with Iftikhar Ahmed (23).
However, O’Rourke and Ben Sears shared five wickets between them to give the visitors an unassailable 2-1 lead.
New Zealand captain Michael Bracewell praised his team’s death bowling.
“It’s a huge positive for us that we are able to expose new guys, we backed Neesham to bowl those hard overs and he was able to close out today,” Bracewell said after the match.
“I think our last five overs as a bowling unit were particularly impressive,” he added.
New Zealand had arrived in Pakistan earlier this month without a host of players missing due to the Indian Premier League, injuries and unavailability.
Pakistan cricket has been going through a turmoil after Babar Azam returned as captain, replacing pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi after just one series in charge.
Shaheen had lost 0-5 in his captaincy debut against New Zealand Down Under.
