Pakistan faced a crushing 150-run defeat against New Zealand, who bagged an unassailable lead, routing the Men in Green for just 105 in the fourth T20I at Mount Maunganui on Sunday.
Kiwis registered the massive victory as the visitors failed to chase the daunting 221-run target, a much-needed feat to stay alive in the series, and were bowled out for just 105 in the 17th over.
Pakistan got off to a poor start as the top order crumbled early, leaving the visitors reeling at 34-4 after 5 overs.
Chasing down the target today, none of the top seven batters managed to enter double figures other than Irfan Khan Niazi who managed to score 24 runs off 16 balls. Other than him none of the batters showed any resistance and fell cheaply in the all-important match.
The challenging performance by the New Zealand bowlers left the visitors struggling at just 10 overs.
Openers Mohammad Haris (2) and Hassan Nawaz (1) failed to give the national side a positive start and their dismissals were further compounded by skipper Salman Ali Agha (1) and Shadab Khan’s (1) wicket.
Kushdil Shah and Abbas Afridi also managed to add only six and 1 run, respectively.
Earlier, dominating performance by Pakistani bowlers took Kiwis under pressure in the first innings but hosts bounced back with some power hitting.
Michael Bracewell and Daryl Mitchell started a 50-run partnership in strong resistance before the latter was sent back to the pavilion in collaboration with Haris Rauf and Irfan Khan. This registered a three-wicket haul for paceman Rauf.
The Black Caps scored 220 at the expense of six wickets.
The Men in Green won the toss and put the hosts to bat first. Captain Salman Agha’s decision was no surprise, given that the chasing team has comfortably won each of the first three games of the series.
