LAHORE, Apr 18 (Alliance News):James Neesham defended 14 runs off last over of the innings to defeat Pakistan by four runs and denied a memorable win and series victory during the third T20I of the five-match series at the Gaddafi Stadium on Monday night.
Pakistan needed 15 runs of the last over with Iftikhar Ahmed at the crease but could not cross the line as Neesham conceded only 10 runs and claimed the wickets of Iftikhar Ahmed and Haris Rauf. A 24 ball cameo of 60 runs by Iftikhar Ahmed and a handy knock of 27 off 14 balls from Faheem Ashraf had brought Pakistan within sight of an improbable victory after Pakistan lost 7 wickets for 88 runs in the 15th over.
Iftikhar’s heroics went in vain as Pakistan failed to overhaul a par target of 164 runs on a double paced pitch which did not allow the batters hit freely. Iftikhar Ahmed proved why he is rated so highly as a finisher and played out of his skin to bring his team so close to the victory march but the Kiwis were rewarded for their disciplined batting, bowling and fielding on the night of fluctuating fortunes.
Emulating Tom Latham’s heroics with the bat, the spin bowling duo of Ish Sodhi 3-0-11-1 and Rachin Ravindra 3-0-28-2 wove a web of spin bowling around the Pakistan batters in six overs between them which helped their team defend a par total of 163-5 in the third T20I and keep the five-match series alive.
New Zealand trail the five-match series 1-2 as the team travel to Rawalpindi to play the last two matches of the rubber. The two spinners conceded 39 runs in the six overs between them and snared three Pakistani batters including Fakhar Zaman, Imad Wasim and Shaheen Shah Afridi while Adam Milne, in a repeat performance of the first T20I at the same venue, claimed two wickets including the prized scalp of Babar Azam for 37 runs.
It was for the second time in the series that the Milne had got the batter of third ranked batter in T20Is in the world. Matt Henry was the most economical bowler for the Kiwis and claimed one wicket of Faheem Ashraf for 27 runs in four overs. Ben Lister gave away 11 runs in two overs before he was hobbled out of the ground due to a groin.
James Neesham conceded 38 runs in four overs for three wickets including the two wickets in the last over of the match.
Neesham had bowled miserly in the beginning and conceded five runs in two overs before he was taken to the cleaners by Iftikhar Ahmed and Faheen who plundered 23 runs in the 18th runs.
Neesham had not started the last over well and conceded 10 runs including a 6 and a boundary for the first three balls but the fall of Iftikhar meant the tail-enders could not take the team over the line. Pakistan had the worst start in the series as the top seven batters were back to the hut for 88 runs with Pakistan experimenting with promoting the middle order and lower middle-order batters to bat at the higher number.
Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim and Shaheen Shah Afridi were promoted the batting order and all failed to perform. Mohammad Rizwan 6 (10), Babar Azam 1 (6), Fakhar Zaman 17 (22), Saim Ayub 10 (10), Shadab Khan 16 (19), Imad Wasim 3 (5), Shaheen Shah Afridi 6 (6), and Haris Rauf 0 (2) all failed to perform.
Naseem Shah was not for 0 off 3 balls as he could not repeat the heroics of the Asia Cup 22. Tom Latham played responsibly to stitch a cautious knock of 64 runs and enabled New Zealand post a par total of 163-5.
Having lost two wickets by the 9th over and reeling at 56 runs through some economical bowling by Pakistan bowlers, Latham and Daryl Mitchell scored a useful partnership of 65 runs in 43 balls to drag the Kiwis out of trouble and post a competitive total on the board.
Both the batters played with restraint before Mitchell plundered 16 runs of Shadab Khan’s last over who had conceded only18 runs in his first three overs for one wicket.
Latham scored a patient 64 (49) as the whole New Zealand innings was built around his knock after the Kiwis had lost their way for the first half of their innings. New Zealand had scored 64-2 in their first 10 overs while they accumulated 99 runs of the second 10.
Chad Bowes failed yet again as he was bowled by Shaheen Shah Afridi for 7 runs while Will Young fell early to Shadab Khan despite a fluent innings of 17 runs off 15 balls.
Daryl Mitchell scored a handy knock of 33 runs off 26 balls and got out in the 16th over off Shaheen Shah Afridi.
Tom Latham followed suit in the next over as he fell off a quick short ball from Haris Rauf in the 17th over with the team total at 128-4. Mark Chapman and Neesham played useful knocks 16 (9) n.o. and 10 (6) runs while both Latham and Neesham fell to Haris Rauf. Haris Rauf and Shaheen Shah Afridi claimed two wickets each for 31 and 33 runs respectively in their quota of four overs while Shadab Khan was the other successful bowler for Pakistan who claimed one wicket for 34 runs.
Naseem Shah, playing his first match of the series, was the most economical bowler for Pakistan who conceded 30 runs in four wicketless overs.
Faheem Ashraf and Imad Wasim bowled two overs each and gave away 12 and 22 runs.
Earlier, New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat first for the first time in three matches and made two changes as Ish Sodhi and Adam Milne returned replacing McConchie and Henry Shipley. Pakistan also made one change and played Naseem Shah for Zaman Khan.