Pakistan hammer New Zealand to win 11th consecutive T20I series

Pakistan will will be eyeing its second successive clean sweep in T20 series in the last match on Sunday

Pakistan on Friday cruised to their 11^th successive T20I series victory after hammer New Zealand by six wickets in Dubai. Babar Azam shone with the bat as he remained the top scorer of the team while Mohammad Hafeez hit the last nail in the coffin as he hit a four to complete the 154-run chase with two balls to spare.

Kiwi opener Colin Munro hit a blistering 44 off 28 balls, however, New Zealand faced the similar problems which they came across in the previous game. They batted first and despite scoring 50 runs in the first five overs, they fell prey to the Pakistan bowling attack. Firstly, Shaheen Shah Afridi jolted the top order and then, the middle order was rattled by the Pakistani spinners.

Ace spinner Imad Wasim came back strong after getting hammered for 13 runs in his first over. He then conceded just 12 runs in his next three overs and removed Colin de Grandhomme in the 10^th over.

Eventually, Glenn Phillip got dismissed for a 12-ball five after which Corey Anderson played the much-needed cameo. He produced a terrific ending with an unbeaten 44 off 25 deliveries to pile up 153 runs on the board.

In reply, Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam gave a solid start to the team, adding 40 runs for the opening wicket.  The return of Fakhar Zaman turned out to be a blessing for Pakistan as he began the run chase with back-to-back boundaries. But soon a one-handed stunner from Kane Williamson at mid-off ended the left-hander's stint.

Asif Ali, who came up in the order to bat, then punished the Kiwi attack to strengthen Pakistan as they reached 75 for 1 at the halfway mark.

Meanwhile, New Zealand seemed to pull out the things their way as they managed to dismiss Babar and Asif towards the end, the experienced campaigners Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik ensured there were no hiccups.

The 17^th over turned out to be the game-changing moment for Pakistan. With 40 runs needed to win the game, Hafeez slammed two sixes to Ish Sodhi to minimize the gap between the runs and the remaining balls. Eventually, with seven required from the final over, Pakistan wrapped up the business despite losing Malik.

Brief scores:

New Zealand 153/7 in 20 overs (Corey Anderson 44*, Colin Munro 44; Shaheen Afridi 3-20)

lost to

Pakistan 154/4 in 19.4 overs (Babar Azam 40, Asif Ali 38; Adam Milne 2-25) by 6 wickets.