CHRISTCHURCH, Oct 14: Pakistan, thriving on an all-round show, especially the pace bowling of young Naseem Shah (2/38) and Haris Rauf (2/22), defeated hosts New Zealand by five wickets at the Hagley Oval to clinch the Tri-series title on Friday, and look set to enter the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia full of confidence.
Chasing 164 for victory, built largely on the exploits of New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson’s 59, three Pakistani batters — opener Mohammad Rizwan, Mohamad Nawaz and Haider Ali — scored in the 30s to pull off an easy victory with three balls to spare in the final.
Williamson showed glimpses of his class in the final, smashing a 38-ball 59 after being off-colour for most of this year in all formats.
Moving into the T20 World Cup in Australia, the promise shown by Williamson will be a major boost for the runners-up in the previous edition of the tournament.
For Pakistan, Rauf was again the star performer with the ball. The 28-year-old right-arm pace bowler snared two wickets, including the wicket of the ever-reliable Devon Conway and gave away only 22 runs. He bowled 12 dot balls and went at a miserly economy of 5.50.
In the final against New Zealand, Nawaz, Haider Ali and Iftikhar Ahmed played aggressive knocks to get Pakistan across the line. Nawaz scored an unbeaten 38 off 22, Ali hit 31 off 15 and Ahmed struck 25 not out off 14. The trio hit 6 sixes between them. (IANS)
