Babar Azam slams unbeaten 79, leads Pakistan to six-wicket win over New Zealand

Christchurch : Pakistan captain Babar Azam carried his bat through the innings to slam an unbeaten 79 off 53 balls and lead Pakistan to a six-wicket victory over New Zealand to win their second match on the bounce in the ongoing T20I tri-series at Hagley Oval on Saturday.

After fast bowler Haris Rauf led the bowling attack’s good showing by picking three wickets in the penultimate over to restrict New Zealand to 147/8 in their 20 overs, Azam played a sterling knock to take Pakistan home with ten balls to spare, with Shadab Khan chipping in with a cameo of 34 off just 22 balls.

It was a match where everything clicked well for Pakistan, right from being pushed into bowling first. They never let go of the pressure upon the Blackcaps batters, which resulted in Devon Conway and captain Kane Williamson being unable to get going and they consumed a lot of deliveries. It took a 16-ball 32 blitz from Mark Chapman for New Zealand to reach a below-par 147/8.

For Pakistan, Rauf strengthened his T20I credentials by picking three wickets in the 19th over while conceding five runs to finish with figures of 3-28. His fellow fast-bowler Mohammad Wasim Jr. gave away five runs in the final over to finish with figures of 2/20. Left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz picked up 2-44 while Shahnawaz Dahani finished with 1-22 in three overs.

In pursuit of 148, Pakistan lost Mohammad Rizwan and Shan Masood in a space of four balls to slip to 37/2 in 5.2 overs. But Azam stayed on and hit 11 fours in his 79 not out, his 28th T20I half-century. He was at his best, striking boundaries from the middle of the bat while pushing the balls in gaps for ones and twos.

Leg-spinner Shadab Khan’s promotion to number four paid off when the Pakistan vice-captain followed up his 0-21 in four over with a 22-ball 34, hitting two fours and as many sixes. He added 61 runs for the third wicket with Azam. Nawaz, promoted to five, chipped in with a 19-ball 16, two fours before Haider Ali belted a six and a four in the two balls to be unbeaten on 10.

With 24 needed off the last three overs, Azam and Ali took Blair Tickner to the cleaners by scoring 21 runs before the Pakistan captain finished the match in style with a four lofted over extra cover off Ish Sodhi in the 19th over.

Brief scores: New Zealand 147/8 in 20 overs (Devon Conway 36, Mark Chapman 32; Haris Rauf 3-28, Mohammad Wasim Jr 2-20) lost to Pakistan 149/4 in 18.2 overs (Babar Azam 79 not out, Shadab Khan 34; Blair Tickner 2-42) by six wickets