New Zealand still have a chance to win the series with the change of venue to Rawalpindi

What should have been a blowout ended up being a nail-biter. By narrowly defeating Pakistan at the end of the match—by a margin of just four runs—New Zealand keeps their series. 

Iftikhar Ahmed appeared to have won the match with an incredible assault of hitting in a match that was still in play when Haris Rauf’s slog was stopped at cow corner and a joyful New Zealand celebrated with an impromptu lap of honor across the field.

His 60 off 24 balls came at a time when Pakistan was almost destined to lose, pushing them to the verge of a historic heist. The victory that should have been New Zealand’s an hour earlier was ultimately made official because of Jimmy Neesham’s ability to remain composed when Iftikhar holed out with three balls remaining.

Tom Latham’s half-century and contributions from players lower in the order helped New Zealand produce 163, their best score of the series, as they managed to escape Pakistan’s attack in the final nine overs and give their bowlers something to defend. The bowlers, on the other hand, gloriously met the challenge on a day when Pakistan’s touch and timing were frequently off.

A clean, orderly New Zealand, who were exceptionally clutch with their catching and seemed like they would be rewarded handsomely for it, destroyed the hosts’ top order and the middle order. 

Although satisfaction was delayed thanks to Iftikhar and Faheem Ashraf, who blasted a useful 27 off just 14 balls, Neesham made sure that it wasn’t entirely withheld.

There wasn’t enough proof for the majority of the first half of the first innings to suggest that Latham’s innings would be anything other than a match-ending one. He had gotten to 19 off 21 deliveries by the time the power play ended. 

Later on, he wasn’t doing much better when facing the spin of Imad Wasim and Shadab Khan; at the conclusion of the 11th, he had only scored 34 off 32, and his side was hovering just above six an over.

But when Latham finally started moving through the gears, Imad and Shadab felt its full force. Imad’s four-run club down the ground in the 12th over set the tone and the chains were quickly removed. 

Before the over was over, he executed some lovely footwork to throw one into the stands. Shadab, however, would experience worse things.

Before Latham blasted Shaheen Afridi for six to begin the 16th over and smashed Rauf away for another boundary in the following over, Daryll Mitchell plundering him for 16 in the previous over. 

Although Latham was out to Rauf off the next legal delivery because New Zealand suddenly took off, his innings of 64 from 49 balls earned him Player of the Match honors, which did not appear likely for the New Zealand captain at the midway point.

Throughout his career, Adam Milne has had terrible luck with injuries. He was one of New Zealand’s most productive bowlers in the first T20I on Friday, but caution dictated he be rested the following day due to his hectic schedule and fast velocity.

Milne demonstrated his level of menace and his capacity to pose a threat to any opponent as a result of getting plenty of rest over the weekend. Following a first over that featured similar amounts of pace and swing, Babar Azam held his bat out at a little wider pitch, and the sideways movement attracted the outer edge that resulted in a wicket.

Another wicket was taken as a result of rash running and astute fielding that led to Mohammad Rizwan’s demise, with Matt Henry at the opposite end of the field equally successful in restricting the batters. Pakistan had only scored 35 and lost by two at the end of the powerplay.

The two frontline bowlers from New Zealand would still have a significant impact on Pakistan’s chase. Pakistan was in trouble at 88 for 7 when Milne came back to force Shadab out of the attack with his first pitch of the 15th over. 

But even with just 35 balls remaining and 76 runs needed to win, the two wouldn’t have it all their own way, as Pakistan was about to shift the tide of the match.

Iftikhar and Faheem started to raise Pakistan back up after they had fallen into the abyss almost as if a passing ship had thrown them a life jacket. Neesham was summoned for his third over when Pakistan needed 72 from the final five overs. 

Those were Iftikhar’s first indications that he was starting to feel at home in the team under criticism: a bludgeoned six over wide long-on, which is his signature shot, had been preceded by a four, and Faheem had followed it up with another.

The generally muted Gaddafi crowd persisted in holding out for optimism, as traffic started to reverse back into the departure gates after it had been swarming just seconds ago. 

However, Milne’s penultimate over was the one that genuinely threatened to steal the game away from the visitors because another 46 needed to be made off the remaining 18 deliveries. 

23 runs were scored, including three enormous sixes, as a result of misplaced lengths and an efficient batting pair.

Henry, though, who was by far New Zealand’s best bowler that day, continued to talk. Henry attempted a yorker as Faheem battled to get underneath it and holed out to Mitchell at long-on. Henry was unfazed by Faheem smashing away over midwicket for six more to bring the equation down to 15 from ten balls. 

Iftikhar suddenly needed to farm the strike after losing eight wickets, which he did only after number 10. Iftikhar reached his fifty from just 20 deliveries in the 19th over, which was ended by Naseem Shah bowling three dots in a row.

Particularly after a six and a four lowered the aim to five off three deliveries, it appeared as though the unfortunate Neesham would once again take the brunt of Iftikhar’s aggression. 

Neesham, however, has dealt with pressure in the past; after all, he was the player New Zealand selected to face the Super Over in a World Cup final. He went full again, and Mitchell was there at long-on to clutch on once more as Iftikhar slightly botched his shot.

Rauf, the last guy to play, was in scoring position with two balls remaining in the game. After being duped by a brief delivery, Rauf attempted to smash the last ball over cow corner since he had nothing left to lose. 

Mitchell’s response made it obvious right away that it wasn’t big enough. He started to rejoice as Chad Bowes finished the catch at deep midwicket, capping off an amazing evening and guaranteeing New Zealand’s continuing mathematical interest in this series.