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New Zealand edge nail-biting win to keep Pakistan series alive

An inexperienced New Zealand overcame Iftikhar Ahmed’s late attack to win by four runs against Pakistan and preserve their five-match Twenty20 series alive.

With a scorching 60 off 24 balls, Iftikhar hit six sixes and three fours to virtually secure the series for Pakistan. However, New Zealand medium-pacer James Neesham held his nerve in the last over on Monday, and Pakistan was bowled out for 159.

After winning the toss and deciding to bat first, skipper Tom Latham knew precisely what the team needed to do to get back into the series. Latham was instrumental in helping New Zealand to 163-5 on the same ground where they were bowled for 94 off fewer than 100 deliveries three days earlier. The left-hander was given a respite early on when a Pakistan leg-before review reversed an umpire’s ruling on a nasty Shaheen Shah Afridi in-swinger, but luck is always on your side if you are to survive Shaheen’s first over.

From then on, the skipper looked calm, scoring 64 on another two-paced pitch that didn’t enable batsmen to knock over the line. Shadab Khan and Imad Wasim, Babar’s spinners, would have been especially dissatisfied. Imad, who is normally dependable, had a poor day with both bat and ball, going for 0-22 in his two overs and was then removed for three off five. Latham, with almost prescient insight, said after winning the toss that his side would be happy with 160, and he can be particularly proud of that evaluation after his side limited Pakistan to 159 in a match that finished closer than anyone would have expected after Pakistan’s batting collapse.

Pakistan had to play catch-up from the start, as early dismissals of Babar Azam and Muhammad Rizwan prompted the hosts to consolidate. The hosts were stuck in the middle as New Zealand continued to nibble away even as the run-rate increased. Spinners Ish Sodhi and Rachin Ravindra applied a death grip throughout the middle overs, and the disparity in spinner production ultimately won the game. New Zealand’s spin stats of 3-39 in six overs were significantly better than Pakistan’s spin figures of 1-56 in the same number of overs.

Pakistan’s batting woes were summed up by the fact that wickets outnumbered boundaries in the first 15 overs. Pakistan had lost seven batsmen for a total of three fours and one six by the time Shadab was removed, with the score at 88 and the match looked all but gone.

But, just when everything looked lost, Ifti-mania grabbed Gaddafi, sending him from despairing despair to disbelieving insanity. Babar chose to keep Iftikhar Ahmed out, putting in Shaheen and Faheem Ashraf ahead of the specialist batsman to maintain the right-hand/left-hand combination. It looked like an odd decision at the time, but in retrospect, it may have been a masterstroke since it meant Iftikhar didn’t encounter much spin against two spinners who normally shift the ball away from the right-hander’s striking arc. Iftikhar has developed a modest cult following as a result of his eccentric social media presence and antics, but he does not command the awe and reverence that others in the side do.

 

Only Imad and Fakhar Zaman are older than him, while only Babar and Rizwan have more T20 experience among the squad’s specialist batters. And yet, Iftikhar is content to let others have the spotlight, content to contribute when his time comes after his more gifted colleagues have failed.

New Zealand is back in the series and will attempt to tie it up in Rawalpindi for the final two Twenty20 Internationals. Babar and Pakistan should take encouragement from how different areas of their batting order have performed in the three T20Is thus far.

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Farzeen K

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