Seifert & Jimmy Neesham star as New Zealand secure a commanding win over Pakistan in the fifth T20
The maiden five-wicket haul of James Neesham, followed by swashbuckling half-century of Tim Seifert gave New Zealand a dominating nine-wicket win in the final T20I of the five-match series against Pakistan at the Sky Stadium in Wellington on Wednesday.
Asked to chase down a modest total of 129 runs, the hosts comfortably crossed the finish line for the loss of just two wickets and 60 deliveries to spare, thanks to the blazing opening wicket partnership between Finn Allen & Tim Seifert.They added 93 runs for the first wicket until the former got out off the bowling of Sufiyan Muqueem in the seventh over. He played a decent knock og 27 runs in 12 balls with the help of a six and five fours.
Muqueem didn't stop his bowling assault with the wicket of Allen as he gave yet another blow to the Blackcaps by getting the in-form left-handed batter Mark Chapman stumped in his very next over.
However, to the dismay of the Pakistani supporters, Tim Seifert once again crushed their hopes of seeing their side secure a win as his unbeaten knock of 87 runs in 38 balls steered the Blackcaps over the finish line. His inning consisted of six fours and 10 huge sixes. He also got involved in a match-winning partnership of 28 runs with Daryl Mitchell (2 runs), who remained unbeaten in the end.
For Pakistam, chinaman spinner Sufiyan Muqeem was the sole wicket-taker, dismissing two New Zealand batter for six runs in his two over spell.
Earlier in the match, Kiwi skipper Michael Bracewell won the toss and asked the visitors to bat first and that decision paid dividends as the Salman Ali Agha-led side managed to register a modest total on the board despite the fifty of their skipper.
They got off to a horrible start as they lost explosive opening batter Hasan Nawaz (0 runs) in the second over of the match with just five runs on the board to their name. Following this early setback, Mohammad Haris was joined by Omair Bin Yousuf in the middle for a small partnership of 18 runs, which was then followed by back-2-back wicket losses.
Haris managed to score just 11 runs in 17 balls with the assistance of two boundaries, while Yousuf, on the other hand, managed just seven runs. The Shaheens then lost two more quick wickets as Abdul Samad (4 runs) and Usman Khan (7 runs) perished cheaply.
The dismissals of these two meant Pakistan got reduced to 52-5 in 10.2 overs until captain Agha Salman and experienced all-rounder Shadab Khan began their rescuing act with an anchoring stand for the sixth wicket. They added 54 runs for the sixth-wicket until the latter was sent back to the pavilion by Jimmy Neesham on the very first ball of the 17th over. The spin-bowling all rounder contributed 28 runs off 20 balls with the assistance of five boundaries.
34-year-old Jimmy Neesham wasn't in the mood to stop and after taking the wicket of Shadab, he inflicted another blow to the Pakistani team as he dismissed Jahandad Khan in the same over as the visiting team slipped to 108-7 in 16.4 overs.
Pakistani captain Agha Salman also perished off the bowling of the 34-year-old in the penultimate over of his side's innings as he walked back after playing a good inning of 51 runs in 39 balls with the help of a six and six fours. He was also the top scorer of the match for the Shaheens.
Neesham was the star bowler of the Black Caps, picking up five wickets for just 22 runs in his four overs, followed by Jacob Duffy with two, and Ish Sodhi and Ben Sears with one wicket each.
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