3rd T20I, Dunedin, January 17, 2024, 05:30 AM
New Zealand
224/7(20.0ov)
Pakistan
179/7(20.0ov)
New Zealand beat Pakistan by 45 runs
Right then, that is it from this game where New Zealand wrapped the series up and will have an eye on the whitewash now while Pakistan will hope to stop the hosts from doing so. The 4th T20I will be played on 19th January, Friday at 11.40 am IST (6.10 am GMT), but as you know, you can always join us early for all the build-up. Until then, cheers and goodbye!
Finn Allen is the PLAYER OF THE MATCH for his record-breaking ton.
Presentation Time...
Earlier in the game, New Zealand posted a massive total on the board courtesy of a record-breaking hundred from Finn Allen. He registered the highest individual score (137) for New Zealand in T20Is breaking the record of Brendon McCullum. In the process, he also equaled the record of the most sixes (16) in an innings in T20Is. Haris Rauf picked up a couple of wickets for Pakistan while every other bowler chipped in with one each but all of them were pretty expensive. While chasing, it was once again Babar Azam who tried his best but chasing a score of over 200 was never going to be easy, and that too without much support from the others.
New Zealand, on the other hand, will be pretty happy with their bowling effort. They had a lot of runs to play with, and their bowlers were pretty much on point right from the start. This is not an easy ground to bowl, but they stuck to their plans and kept picking up wickets at regular intervals which put more pressure on the visitors. They were shown some resistance again from Babar Azam, but once Ish Sodhi managed to get rid of him, the game was theirs. Tim Southee got a couple of wickets while the others chipped in with one each and sealed the win comfortably in the end.
Pakistan needed a quick start, but Saim Ayub was dismissed after hitting a few lusty blows. It was then the two experienced players Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam who steadied things for a bit with a 39-run stand before the former got out. There were some cameos in the middle order, but once again no one could convert their starts and failed to support Babar, who fought a lone battle, notching up his third fifty in a row. However, he too perished trying to take on the attack as the asking rate kept going up. Mohammad Nawaz played a quick-fire knock towards the end, but that was never going to be enough as they ultimately fell short by 45 runs.
NEW ZEALAND SEAL THE SERIES! Another dominating victory for them as they take an unassailable 3-0 lead here and completely outplayed the Men in Green. However, all the talking points will be about that swash-buckling century from Finn Allen which set up this victory for the BlackCaps. Pakistan are not having a great run in this format as they have won only once in their last 8 T20Is which is not a good sign with the T20 World Cup not so far away.
In over# 20
1
0
1lb
2
1lb
0W
Tim Southee 29/2(4)
19.6
1
Slower delivery, fuller and on the stumps. Mohammad Wasim knocks it towards the long on for a single. That's it, NEW ZEALAND WIN BY 45 RUNS!
19.5
.
Swing and a miss! Fuller delivery outside off, nipping away from the batter. Mohammad Wasim clears his front foot to swat it to his leg side but misses on the outer edge.
19.4
1lb
Fuller, wide outside off. Shaheen Afridi shuffles to scoop it, but the ball follows his footings and thumps his pads. The ball rolls towards the short fine region and they crossed for a leg bye.
19.3
2
Fuller delivery wide outside off. Shaheen Afridi shuffles to his off side opening his stance and heaves it towards the deep mid-wicket for a double.
19.2
1lb
Good-length delivery on middle and shaping in. Mohammad Wasim attempts to nudge it to his leg side but misses. The ball thuds his pad and rolls towards his right and a single is stolen. Leg byes called.
Mohammad Wasim comes out to the middle now.
19.1
W
OUT! CAUGHT BEHIND! Tim Southee gets his second wicket! He takes pace off and lands this on a hard length, outside off, Mohammad Nawaz slashes hard at it but only manages to get a thin outside edge behind, Glenn Phillips dives forward to take a simple catch. Nawaz's little cameo comes to an end now!
In over# 19
1
4
1
0
0
1
Lockie Ferguson 27/1(4)
18.6
1
Finished off his spell pitching a fraction fuller outside the off stump line, Mohammad Nawaz cuts it to deep point for a single.
18.5
4
FOUR! Lockie Ferguson overpitches this one into the pads, Mohammad Nawaz stands bak and flicks it off his pads towards deep backward square leg fence for a boundary.
18.4
1
On a hard length just around the off stump line Shaheen Afridi tries to play across the line but gets an inside edge past the leg stump.
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