New Zealand batters Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips scored unbeaten half-centuries to guide their side to a thumping seven-wicket win over Pakistan in the fourth T20 at the Hagley Oval on Friday.
New Zealand extended their lead to 4-0 in the series after chasing the 159-run target in 18.1 overs.
Pakistan’s captain Shaheen Afridi gave his team the early advantage with two wickets in the first over, sending opening batters Finn Allen and Tim Seifert back to the pavilion.
He inflicted further damage with the wicket of Will Young in his next over, which reduced New Zealand to 20-3 in 2.4 overs.
Mitchell and Phillips then joined hands to recover from the early debacle and produce a match-winning partnership.
They started cautiously to consolidate before shifting gears in the latter overs to chase down the total in the 19th over, with both batters remaining unbeaten.
Mitchell scored a blistering 72 off 44, featuring seven boundaries and two sixes, meanwhile, Phillips played a 70-run knock from 52 balls with five boundaries and three sixes.
For Pakistan, Afridi was the sole wicket-taker with the figures of 3-34.
Earlier in the day, New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner invited Pakistan to bat first and got an early breakthrough as Matt Henry dismissed Saim Ayub (1).
Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam stitched a 51-run stand from 31 balls before Adam Milne’s bouncer sent Azam back to reduce Pakistan to 56-2.
Fakhar Zaman and Rizwan’s cautious partnership of 27 off 33 dragged the team’s total to 83 inside 13 overs.
Lockie Ferguson dismissed Zaman (9) and Sahibzada Farhan (1), who was making his comeback, in the same over, reducing Pakistan to 86-4 in 13 overs.
Rizwan continued his sensible knock from one end while Iftikhar Ahmed scored 10 off 14 and fell prey to Henry.
Mohammad Nawaz joined Rizwan in the fall of the fifth wicket and played a quick cameo to give a much-needed push to the team’s total.
Pakistan ended up scoring 158-5 in their allocated 20 overs, with Nawaz scoring an unbeaten 21 off 9, featuring three sixes.
Meanwhile, Rizwan scored a sensible innings of 90 runs from 63 balls with the help of two sixes and six boundaries.
Henry and Ferguson picked two wickets each for New Zealand, while Milne grabbed one.
