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T20 World Cup 2021: Pakistan beat New Zealand for back-to-back wins

Beat India on Sunday, New Zealand on Tuesday. Pakistan are now the favourites. Two days after breaking the World Cup jinx against arch-rivals India, Babar Azam & Co registered another comprehensive win, by five wickets, in their second ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021, Super 12 match. With two wins in two outings, Pakistan now sit at the top of Group 2 table with four points (net run rate +0.738)

Opener Mohammed Rizwan made 33 runs while veteran Shoaib Malik (26 runs) and Asif Ali (27 runs) remained unbeaten as Pakistan chased the target of 135 runs in 18.4 overs.

Earlier, pacer Haris Rauf led a clinical bowling show with four wickets for 22 runs as Pakistan restricted New Zealand to a small total of 134 for eight.

The Kiwis were in all sorts of trouble after they were invited to bat in the face a disciplined Pakistani bowling attack with opener Daryl Mitchell and Devon Conway top-scoring with 27 each and captain Kane Williamson contributing 25.

New Zealand could not have one substantial partnership with their highest being the 36-run opening stand between Mitchell and Martin Guptill (17).

Shaheen Afridi, Imad wasim and Mohammad Hafeez also took one wicket each for Pakistan.

Afridi, who rattled the Indian top-order in Pakistan’s 10-wicket win on Sunday, got the swing in the opening over which was a maiden one. But Mitchell hit a four off his second over which yielded eight runs.

Mitchell then hoisted Hasan Ali for a six as New Zealand looked to take the initiative. But they were unable to come out of the power play unscathed as Rauf uprooted Guptill’s timbers after the ball took a deflection off the batter’s pads.

Mitchell paid the price of going for one too many as he holed out to Fakhar Zaman near the ropes after he smashed a six off Imad in the ninth over.

New batter James Neesham did not last long as he was out for 1 in the next over off Hafeez as New Zealand reached 60 for three at halfway mark.

The Kiwis stepped on the gas and took 25 runs from the 12th and 13th overs together with Williamson smashing Hafeez for a six and a four, even as Conway clobbered Shadab Khan for three successive boundaries.

But the Kiwi innings took a turn after Williamson was run out in the 14th over as Hasan Ali’s brilliant direct throw off his own bowling dislodged the bails.

New Zealand could only reach the 100-run mark at the end of the 15th over and as runs were hard to come by, they got a four after four overs, only to see Conway and Glenn Phillips (13) getting out in the space of three balls in the 18th over bowled by Rauf.

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