New Delhi: Pakistan on Tuesday avenged 'the boycott' by defeating New Zealand by 5 wickets in a thrilling match at Sharjah Cricket Stadium. This is Pakistan's second consecutive win in the ongoing T20 World Cup. After being put to bat first, New Zealand gave a target of 135 runs to Pakistan (PAK). Pakistan's batsmen performed well and led the team to victory.
For Pakistan, Mohammad Rizwan played the highest innings of 33 runs. The performance of Pakistan's bowlers in this match was also good. Haris Rauf took 4 wickets, while Imad Wasim and Mohammad Hafeez took one wicket each. Apart from this, Shaheen Shah Afridi also got a wicket.
Earlier, after losing the toss, opting to bat first, the start of the New Zealand team was very poor on the slow pitch of Sharjah and the team scored 42 runs for the loss of one wicket in the power play. During this, Rauf soon dismissed Martin Guptill. After this, Daryl Mitchell scored 27 runs off 20 balls with the help of one four and two sixes and was dismissed by Wasim. James Neesham, who came to bat at number four, was soon sent to the pavilion by Hafeez.
Due to the tremendous bowling from Pakistani bowlers, the run rate of the New Zealand team continued to fall, but captain Kane Williamson and Devon Conway stitched a partnership of 34 runs between them to steady their team's innings. After this, Williamson was run out after scoring 25 runs. Conway (27), Glenn Phillips (13) and Tim Seifert (8) scored runs to take the team's total to 134.