‘Finally some happy moment for padosi mulk’ – Fans react as Pakistan beat New Zealand by 42 runs in final T20I

Pakistan saved themselves from a T20I series whitewash against New Zealand as they won the final T20I by 42 runs. The T20I series against New Zealand was a five-match series where Pakistan lost the first four matches. Also, this was Shaheen Afridi’s first T20I win as a captain. This win will be memorable for him as they defended a total of 134 runs. New Zealand managed to score just 92 runs.

After winning the toss, Pakistan chose to bat first and put some runs on the board. They did pretty well by scoring 134 runs at the loss of eight wickets. Mohammad Rizwan scored 38 runs off 38 balls while Fakhar Zaman scored 33 runs off 16 balls. The bowlers shared the wickets among each other as Tim Southee, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson and Ish Sodhi took two wickets each with Southee being the most economical bowler.

Although the bowlers did a good job, the batters failed to impress. No one could sustain in the crease and the wickets kept falling in regular intervals. Glenn Phillips scored the highest runs (26) for the hosts. For the visitors, Iftikhar Ahmed took three wickets at an economy of 6. He was also awarded the Player of the Match award.

A sweet series victory for New Zealand

New Zealand won the five-match T20I series against Pakistan, 4-1. After some astounding performances, New Zealand batters failed to perform well in the final T20I and as a result, Pakistan was saved from a clean sweep. The final T20I was a shocker for the Kiwis as all the batters failed collectively. Their highest scorer of the innings was Glenn Phillips (26). Finn Alen was the second batter to go past the 20 runs mark.

The Kiwis bowler Tim Southee is the leading wicket-taker in T20 cricket. However, the batting lineup was full of youngsters and thus, did lack confidence without the seniors. As players like Kane Williamson, Devon Conway, and Mitchell Daryl were ruled out due to injuries and Covid-19, the batting unit seemed weaker than usual. This was the main reason behind New Zealand’s loss in the final T20I.

https://twitter.com/saeedjan01/status/1748908054022643864

Shaheen Afridi wins his first match as Pakistan captain! Pakistan finally get off the mark 🇵🇰🔥 #NZvsPA

— Zuhair 🇦🇪 (@zuhair_dxb) January 21, 2024

https://twitter.com/khadirants/status/1748907128604303373

What a spell 🔥🔥 Shaheen 🔥

— 𝚂𝚊𝚔𝚒 (@ItxSaki) January 21, 2024

Whitewash Averted.

— Nirmal Roy (@nroy11) January 21, 2024

https://twitter.com/Zaigham880/status/1748907553944383491

Lekin series tu warr gyi

— Mr babarian|BA56🇵🇰 (@PatternMister) January 21, 2024

Ab WC hamra hai😭😭

— 𝙎𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙞 (@CallMeSheri1) January 21, 2024