1st T20I
Pakistan 105 (19.4/20 ov)
New Zealand 106/3 (15.5/20 ov)
New Zealand won by 7 wickets (with 25 balls remaining)
If one team is vastly superior to the other at each stage of a game, chances are that the upper hand will show, in any format. That was the rather obvious - yet harsh - lesson all those hoping for a more competitive T20I series between New Zealand and Pakistan were taught as New Zealand crushed Pakistan by seven wickets at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington.
Pakistan's top-order batting crumbled in the first ten overs as they were reduced to 38 for 6, with Tim Southee, Seth Rance and Mitchell Santner wreaking havoc. The forlorn 105 they put up was all too comfortable for New Zealand, who coasted home with 4.1 overs to spare despite the loss of two early wickets.
Pakistan were put into bat and found themselves under pressure straightaway. As skillful as New Zealand's bowling was, Pakistan did orchestrate their own their downfall in no small way.
Fakhar Zaman and Umar Amin were positive, but gifted their wickets by hoicking across the line. It was an ugly start, with the top four batsmen - all left handers - swiftly putting paid to the idea of left-handed batsmen being elegant. Zaman, Amin, Mohammad Nawaz and Haris Sohail all played abysmal shots, making it far too easy for a home side currently not dependent on anyone's largesse.
Southee, captaining in place of the injured Kane Williamson, led the attack with an accurate opening spell. He was well supported by Rance, whose extra burst of pace troubled Pakistan's top order. But the pick of the bowlers was Santner, who took two wickets to rip the heart out of Pakistan's middle order, and ensured there would be no rearguard.
Sarfraz Ahmed attempted a sweep to a flighted delivery well outside off, finding himself comically off balance outside the crease, with Glenn Phillips able to effect an easy stumping. Next ball, he tossed another one to Shadab, who edged it behind. Pakistan were now 38 for 6, headed towards another humiliation.
Hasan Ali came out and had a few swings, managing the art of T20 batting far better than all who came before him. He hit three of Pakistan's four sixes in a breezy 23, while Babar Azam, who top scored with 41, added a final-over flurry to take Pakistan to three figures.
New Zealand's chase was largely uneventful, though it did begin shakily. Martin Guptill and Phillips fell in the first four overs, and with the score reading 14 for 2 after four overs, Pakistan would have hoped to turn the game into a low-scoring scrap. However, Colin Munro showed why he's the top-ranked T20I batsman, steadying the ship and putting to rest any thoughts of a Pakistan renaissance.
A 49-run partnership with Tom Bruce set the hosts back on course, before he and Ross Taylor knocked off the remaining 49 runs without the loss of another wicket. That number was a theme, with Munro himself left stranded on 49 as a wide ball denied him the chance to become just the third player to score four successive T20I half-centuries. Still, it was a minor disappointment compared to the worries Pakistan nurse at the moment.
2nd T20I
Pakistan 201/4 (20 ov)
New Zealand 153 (18.3/20 ov)
Pakistan won by 48 runs
It took seven matches, but Sarfraz Ahmed's men have finally turned up, and finally ended New Zealand's perfect home record this season. The T20I series will go into a decider at Mount Maunganui on Sunday. Having chosen to bat, Pakistan never let up attacking through their innings, posting 201 in 20 overs. When New Zealand came out to chase, there was no one, despite their well-deserved reputation, to carry the innings through, and Pakistan clinched victory by 48 runs.
It was two years and 14 matches since Pakistan last defeated New Zealand in any format, anywhere in the world. As it happened, that also came in a T20I, and at this ground. Something about Eden Park had got Pakistan's tails up from the very beginning when they came out to bat, intent to put on a display worthy of modern T20 cricket. Fakhar Zaman and Ahmed Shehzad, mysteriously left out for the first game, were aggressive from ball one. It took them a mere 1.5 overs to eclipse the highest opening partnership on tour, which had stood at a wretched 14.
New Zealand bowled short in the first six overs, aware of their vulnerability against the short straight boundaries at this ground. But Fakhar and Shehzad were brilliant at manipulating the fielders and finding gaps, with 11 boundaries coming off a Powerplay that produced 57 runs.
Ish Sodhi's first over gave up just four runs, but this was no momentum swing. Fakhar unloaded on Mitchell Santner, smashing him for three huge sixes in an over that cost 22. New Zealand's bowlers began to get a bit fuller, which allowed Pakistan to exploit the straight boundary, a flat six onto the sightscreen leaving no doubt about Shehzad's intentions.
He was caught at long-on attempting the same shot next ball, but New Zealand never really found a way to check Pakistan's momentum all innings. It wasn't just ugly slogging; the innings was replete with gorgeous straight drives. Sarfraz looked in sweet touch, a classy drive over extra cover off Sodhi - who was New Zealand's best bowler - the pick of the lot.
Wickets never appeared to affect the run rate, and even when Ben Wheeler got two wickets in the 19th over, Pakistan continued to press. Even Trent Boult wasn't spared, and when Babar Azam pulled him for four off the final ball, he brought up the 200 as well as his fifty, bookending Pakistan's dominance in the first half.
If the crowd was hoping for a competitive match at last, they were to be disappointed. New Zealand's approach from the start wasn't quite what was needed in a chase of 202, Martin Guptill and Colin Munro unusually cautious. It might have been the pressure of the chase, but Pakistan's bowlers stepped up their game too, both in terms of pace and intensity. Mohammad Amir trapped Munro plumb in front for 1, and in the very next over Kane Williamson got a leading edge, dismissed for a golden duck. The shock of that appeared to puncture New Zealand in a way they never recovered from, and as the asking rate began to climb, wickets started to fall regularly.
All of Pakistan's bowlers registered in the wickets column, but the most encouraging aspect to this performance was the visitors' notably improved effort in the field. There was a commitment and application that had been missing for the first six games. Several runs were saved, and regular direct hits meant uncertainty crept into New Zealand's running. It also brought about a sensational run-out, Haris Sohail nailing a throw with just one stump to aim at, catching Tom Bruce well short.
Auckland is home to the largest Pakistani diaspora in New Zealand, and that showed with the support for Sarfraz's side in the stands. If they had to put in one performance this series, this was the place to do it. New Zealand's lower order offered some resistance, but there was never a question of chasing down that total, and the second half of the innings was simply a celebration of Pakistan opening their account on this tour. New Zealand were bowled out with nine balls still to go, and, against all odds, Pakistan go into this tour's final game looking to come away with the T20 trophy as well as the number one ranking in the format.
3rd T20I
Pakistan 181/6 (20 ov)
New Zealand 163/6 (20 ov)
Pakistan won by 18 runs
They may remember this as a difficult tour, but Pakistan have had the last laugh on it. In a high-pressure, series-deciding, tour-shaping, third and final T20I, Pakistan overpowered New Zealand, setting them a daunting 182 to win and then constricting them in the field. This might have shaped up to be the cracker this series hasn't yet had, but true to form, a close finish was never really on the cards. However, it was Sarfraz Ahmed's men who were responsible for that this time, showing the sort of form that, had it arrived a few games early, could have rendered this series a classic.
Pakistan won the toss and batted first again, looking to maintain the template of the previous T20I game. They did get off to a similarly positive start, with Ahmed Shehzad timing the ball beautifully. A crisp on-drive followed by a glorious cover drive in the third over off Tim Southee set Pakistan on their way.
But this was an improved New Zealand bowling performance, with Pakistan not able to cut loose in the way they did in Auckland. Colin de Grandhomme struck in the fourth over to remove Shehzad, and the run rate slowed. Fakhar Zaman kept Pakistan ticking, but at the halfway mark Pakistan were 72 for 2, largely due to a disciplined New Zealand that keeping them on a leash.
Mitchell Santner was New Zealand's best bowling option, chipping in with two wickets and driving the run rate down. He took the all-important wicket of Zaman, who was controversially given out caught on the boundary, with several replays unable to deliver a conclusive verdict. A lovely flighted delivery took care of Sarfraz after he was beginning to look dangerous, and Pakistan were in danger of falling away.
The turning point in the match, though, was Ish Sodhi's final over. Umar Amin took him to task, plundering the legspinner for three sixes in an over that brought 21. Even though he holed out to long-on off the last ball, the tempo for the death overs had been set.
New Zealand became sloppy in the field and Pakistan's middle order took full advantage. Even as Kane Williamson brought Southee and Trent Boult back on to close out the innings, they couldn't keep Pakistan from surging above 180, with 58 runs conceded off the last four overs.
The momentum carried through to the second innings, where New Zealand made a solid start without being allowed to take proper advantage of the Powerplay. Martin Guptill was in good touch, but Williamson, opening in the absence of the injured Colin Munro, couldn't help him get the start New Zealand required.
Faheem Ashraf removed the captain with his first ball in the attack. Williamson looked to slash him over point, the shot carrying straight to the fielder to end a 14-ball struggle in which he had managed just 9.
It was a quick three-over spell, just after the Powerplay, that, in hindsight, took the game out of New Zealand's hands once and for all. Seven runs came off the three overs as Guptill's momentum was stalled, and suddenly even rotating the strike became a challenge, even with the fielders pushed back. As perhaps anyone sitting through this series might have expected, Shadab Khan bowled two of them, showing immense control with his flight and pace, the batsmen unable to get a read of his length, or which way the ball would turn. The asking rate was suddenly pushing 12, and New Zealand's reliance on Guptill's explosiveness increased exponentially.
New Zealand suddenly looked like they were lacking the power hitting that is such a hallmark of their game, and scoreboard pressure took its toll. Anaru Kitchen was dismissed after charging Shadab and hopelessly missing, leaving Sarfraz to execute a simple stumping. Guptill and de Grandhomme then fell within four balls of each other, each attempting big heaves that were neither on nor well timed.
The final overs provided a pang of nostalgia as Ross Taylor unsheathed his slog sweep after years of disuse. The most optimistic home fans may even have momentarily dreamed of a miracle win as Taylor smashed three sixes in a 11-ball 25, but there was an ephemeral nature to the innings, and when he edged behind to Sarfraz off Mohammad Amir, New Zealand needed a steep 54 from 21 balls.
From thereon, the game just went through the motions as Pakistan ended the series with a swagger. It may have been a difficult, at times an embarrassing tour for Pakistan. But an 18-run win to close it, a T20I series win and the world No. 1 ranking in the format is decent reward for a tour that may generally be regarded as a disappointment.
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