Match Details
Skipper Tom Latham and Chad Bowes shepherded the innings for New Zealand on an electrifying note. The southpaw Latham went after Shaheen Afridi and swatted 13 runs off the first over which included three boundaries to his credit. The right-hander Chad Bowes also pushed the pedal from the other end and kept the scorecard moving at a swift rate.
The left-right duo was exploiting the Rawalpindi surface before Imad Wasim was introduced into the attack. The left-arm spinner changed the entire complexion of the game. Imad first dismissed skipper Latham for 13(8) before getting rid of Will Young 6(8) in his following over. As a result, New Zealand was positioned at 50/2 at the end of the powerplay. Wasim’s carnage did not cease with two wickets as he bagged the massive wicket of Daryl Mitchell 3(6) right after the powerplay.
After losing three quick wickets inside the halfway stage, in-form Mark Chapman joined forces with Chad Bowes to resurrect the New Zealand innings. The duo soaked up the pressure and kept tapping for singles and doubles. However, it wasn’t long enough before Bowes broke the shackles and attacked Shadab Khan in the 12th over.The Canterbury batter registered his maiden half-century in T20I cricket before Shaheen halted his progress. The left-armer dismissed Bowes on 54(38) with a brilliant catch on his follow-through and broke the 54-run stand between Bowes and Chapman.
Just when the runs were starting to dry up in the backend of the innings, Chapman went on an assault in the 17th over of Zaman Khan and ensured New Zealand secured 18 runs off that over. Chapman also brought up his second half-century of the series in that over. Rachin Ravindra, who was playing the second fiddle to Chapman, was outdone by a slower delivery of Haris Rauf and had to walk back for 8(12) before it started hailing in Rawalpindi.
Imad Wasim bowled an exceptional spell of 3/19 in the early stages of the game while Haris Rauf and Shaheen Afridi also extracted a wicket. So, Pakistan cannot lose the series from this stage after the fourth game is abandoned. New Zealand would aim to draw the series in the fifth and the final T20I.