New Zealand produced a complete performance to thump Pakistan by 115 runs in the fourth Twenty20 international. With this victory, they took an unassailable lead of 3-1 in the five-match series. The match, held at a packed stadium, saw New Zealand's bowlers dismantle Pakistan's batting line-up, leading to Pakistan's biggest T20 loss by runs against any nation.
Haris Rauf was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan, taking 3-27, Tim Seifert the first of his three scalps. Even with these efforts, Pakistan was in a difficult position. This left them reeling at 56-8, on the brink of their lowest-ever T20 international total of 74, set against Australia back in 2012. Abdul Samad’s unbeaten 44 helped Pakistan clear this mark but it has been the second-highest chase. Earlier, New Zealand’s vitriolic pace attack had done enough to set the tone for the Test.
New Zealand's bowlers were relentless, with Jacob Duffy picking up 4-20 and Zak Foulkes contributing significantly with figures of 3-25. This scary array held Pakistan to just 195 runs, well under what they would have wanted.
That effort propelled Finn Allen to Player of the Match honors. He took special notice for mention of Tim Seifert’s aggressive batting, which unsettled the rhythm of the Pakistani bowlers.
“With Tim [Seifert] belting them it makes it tough to get some rhythm sometimes,” – Finn Allen
Ali Agha, representing Pakistan, acknowledged New Zealand's superior performance.
“We have to give them credit, they bowled really well and they outplayed us,” – Ali Agha
“It was swinging and turning as well. It did a lot in the second innings but we are an international team and we have to do better.” – Ali Agha
