Pallekele: New Zealand’s batsmen picked up the pace way too late as Pakistan beat them by 13 runs in their World T20 clash here on Sunday.
Chasing 178, New Zealand batted steadily, but it was a tad too slow for the format as they ended up with 164 for nine.
After Nasir Jamshed’s maiden half century – a 35-ball 56 – and Mohammed Hafeez’s fine 43-run knock guided the team to a challenging total, their bowlers completed the job by drying up the runs for the Kiwi batsmen.
Brendon McCullum (32) showed some spark but he hardly found any support at the other end.
Rob Nicol top-scored for the Kiwis with a 28-ball 33 that included three fours and a six.
The rest of the Kiwi innings did not feature any worthwhile contribution as Saeed Ajmal worked his magic to pick up four wickets in his four overs that cost 34 runs.
New Zealand, however, have done enough for a place in the Super Eights. Pakistan are also likely to go through; Bangladesh will have to beat them by a massive margin in the final group game on Tuesday to have a chance of progressing to the next round. (PTI)