Mitchell, Phillips make it 4-0 to New Zealand
Pakistan’s hopes of breaking their duck in the fourth match of the five-game series was quashed with 139-run stand between Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips in chase after New Zealand bowlers kept the visitors down to 158/5. Mitchell whacked 72 off 44 while Phillips made 70 off 52. Skipper, Shaheen Afridi took out the dangerous Finn Allen and Tim Seifert in the very first over and then dismissed Will Young in the third to leave New Zealand down to 20 for 3. New Zealand’s forever crisis-man Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips took New Zealand to 38/3 in the PowerPlay and scored consistently to drag the team to 70/3 at the halfway stage. Even with the two going strong, New Zealand were behind the eight-ball until a two overs in the middle turned the chase around. Mitchell put away Mohammad Wasim Jr. for two fours in the 11-run 13th over while both took Muhammad Nawaz on in the 14-run 14th. Shaheen brought himself back with New Zealand needing 45 off 30 but was taken for 11 runs, including a big heave for a six over backward square leg for a six. Haris Rauf then missed his lengths and went for 15. Zaman Khan returned in the 18th over when the two batters showed urgency to wrap up the chase. They each carted Zaman for a six before Mitchell completed the win on the first ball of the penultimate over. In the first innings Matt Henry provided an early breakthrough but Mohammad Rizwan led the way in the PowerPlay. He scored 32 of the 51 that Pakistan got in the period, setting them up for a middle-overs consolidation. Babar Azam couldn’t keep his form in the series and fell in the seventh over for a 11-ball 19. The middle-order batters that followed – Fakhar Zaman, Sahibzada Farhan, Iftikhar Ahmed – just couldn’t play ally to a set Rizwan. Rizwan remained defiant and got runs throughout while Muhammad Nawaz chipped in with a nine-ball cameo worth 21 runs. The pair took 21 off Milne in the 19th over. Brief Scores:
Pakistan 158/5 in 20 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 90, Muhammad Nawaz 21; Matt Henry 2-22, Lockie Ferguson 2-27) lost to New Zealand 159/3 in 18.1 overs (Daryl Mitchell 72*, Glenn Phillips 70*; Shaheen Afridi 3-34) by 7 wickets
