Pakistan stun New Zealand with record chase in 3rd T20I
Pakistan secures a thrilling win over New Zealand as Hassan Nawaz smashes a historic ton in the third T20I. The opening batter ended his nightmare start in international cricket with a 44-ball century.
New Zealand led the five-match T20I series 2-0. Pakistan struggled in the opening two matches and needed a win to stay in the series. They asked the home team to bat first.
Chapman stays but others struggle
Eden Park offered some bounce to the bowlers, but the dimensions were in favour of the batsman. Pakistan got rid of Finn Allen in the very first over. Haris Rauf took a one-handed blinder to get rid of the opening batsman. Soon, he came to the attack and removed the other opener, Tim Seifert. New Zealand was losing wickets at one end, but Chapman was leading the charge from the opposite end.
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New Zealand was 141 in 12.5 overs when they lost Chapman. He was the fifth guy to lose his wicket. Mark Chapman had already scored the majority of the runs. He made 94 runs in just 44 balls, with an impressive strike rate of 213. Skipper, Michael Bracewell’s cameo of 31, took the Blackcaps over 200.
The home team was all out on 204, with one ball left. Haris Rauf took three wickets for the visitors. Shaheen Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, and Abbas Afridi took two wickets each. It was a good total on the board against a side struggling for confidence.
Pakistan Roars Back
After struggles in the opening two matches, Pakistani batters had to show some firepower to remain in the series. Mohammad Haris took charge and took on the bowlers. The opening duo scored 74 runs for the first wicket in 5.5 overs. Haris scored 41 in just 20 balls.
Hassan Nawaz took over the proceedings with some hard-hitting. All bowlers were smashed at the Eden Park. The 22-year-old took his team over the line with a 105-run knock in just 45 balls. His knock included 10 fours and seven sixes.
Salman Agha played a captain’s knock. He scored a half-century in 31 balls. This eased the pressure on the youngster and he took full advantage of the wickets in hand. Pakistan scored 207 runs with four overs remaining. This chase has gone down in the history books for breaking a few records. Pakistan is now back in the series.
What records were broken?
- Pakistan chased its second-highest total in T20Is. In 2021, it scored 208 runs against the West Indies, and 204 is added to the list.
- Hassan Nawaz broke Babar Azam’s record of the 49-ball century against South Africa. The youngster smashed his century in just 44 balls.
- Pakistan took just 16 overs to chase the target. Earlier, the lowest number of overs taken to complete a target over 200 were 17.4.
- The visitors ended the powerplay on 75 for 1. This was their highest total in the first six overs, surpassing the 73 runs made in 2016. They also scored 124 runs in 10 overs, their previous best being 109.
