PAK vs NZ: Thrilling end to the third T20I between Pakistan and New Zealand, the winner was decided on the last ball

 

In the third match of the five-match T20 series (PAK vs NZ) played in Lahore, New Zealand defeated Pakistan by 4 runs. Batting first, New Zealand scored 163/5 in 20 overs, in reply Pakistan could only score 159 runs losing all their wickets while playing the entire over. Pakistan is still ahead 2-1 in the series.

New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat first, losing their first wicket at 20. Opener Chad Bowes became the victim of Shaheen Afridi by scoring 7 runs. Captain Tom Latham and Will Young took the score past 50. Young became the victim of Shadab Khan on a personal score of 17. Latham managed to bring up his half-century and took the score to 121 with Darryl Mitchell. Mitchell played an inning of 33 runs. Latham scored 64 runs in 49 balls. James Neesham contributed 10 runs. Mark Chapman remained unbeaten on 16 runs. In this way New Zealand's score crossed 160 after playing the entire over. Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf took two wickets each for Pakistan.

Chasing the target, Pakistan got off to a bad start as skipper Babar Azam was dismissed for 6 after scoring only 1 run. Mohammad Rizwan also went on to score 6 runs. From here three wickets fell in quick succession and Pakistan's score was 55/5. Shaheen Afridi was dismissed for 6 and Shadab Khan for 16 runs. From here, Iftikhar Ahmed and Faheem Ashraf shared a 61-run partnership in just 26 balls and Pakistan came back in the match. Ashraf got out on the 19th after scoring 27 runs in 14 balls and the matter went till the last over. In the last over, Pakistan had to score 15 runs to win but the set batsman Iftikhar was dismissed on the fourth ball. He scored 60 runs in just 24 balls with the help of three fours and six sixes. To win the last two balls, Pakistan had to score 5 runs, which could not be scored and the team lost the match. James Neesham took three wickets for New Zealand.