In the third Twenty20 International in Dunedin on Wednesday, New Zealand overcame the Green Shirts by 45 runs to seal victory in a five-match series against Pakistan.
On Wednesday, New Zealand set a difficult 225-run mark for Pakistan after Finn Allen hammered 137 runs in 62 balls.
Although Babar Azam hit his third successive fifty of the series with 58 off 37 in reply, it was insufficient to get Pakistan across the finish line.
In four overs, Mitchell Santner claimed one wicket at a cost of 26 runs, demonstrating his economical bowling.
In the men’s T20Is, Allen put an end to Pakistan with the highest individual score for New Zealand, beating the previous record of 123 established by Brendon McCullum. In men’s T20Is, he also scored the equal-highest number of sixes—16—in one innings.
Haris Rauf, the Pakistani bowler, was heavily hit by the opener, who hit 27 off one over with three sixes, two fours, and a single.
Tim Seifert and Allen put up 125 for the second wicket after Devon Conway was out for seven early. Seifert’s contribution was just 31, as he opted to take singles to keep the in-form hitter on strike.
Allen hit the balls out of the park, forcing the umpires to call for replacements three times.
After being bowled by an off-cutter from Zaman Khan in the 18th over, the opening was eventually removed from the game, and Khan cheered the New Zealand batsman on as he exited the field.
Prior to the match, three changes were made by both teams.
Kane Williamson, Adam Milne, and Ben Sears were replaced by Lockie Ferguson, Tim Seifert, and Mathew Henry.
Pakistan’s starting squad was missing leg-spinner Usama Mir and all-rounder Aamer Jamal, while bowler Abbas Afridi was sidelined with a minor strain to his abdominal wall.
For Pakistan, Zaman Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, and Muhammad Wasim Jr. took the place of the aforementioned trio.
Lineups for New Zealand include: Matthew Henry, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, and Tim Seifert (wk).
Pakistan: Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi (c), Mohammad Wasim Jr., Haris Rauf, Zaman Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Babar Azam, and Muhammad Rizwan (vc).
