CHRISTCHURCH: All-rounder Mohammad Nawaz struck an unbeaten 38 from 22 balls to lift Pakistan to a five-wicket victory over New Zealand on Friday to win the tri-series Twenty20 final in Christchurch with three balls to spare.

It was a good sign for Pakistan going into the upcoming Twenty20 World Cup in Australia, with an opener against arch-rivals India on October 23.

After the hosts finished on 163-7 at Hagley Oval, spinner Michael Bracewell checked Pakistan’s early momentum in the tourists’ reply, before Nawaz provided the final impetus for the win.

After his 45 from 20 balls in Pakistan’s seven-wicket win over Bangladesh a day earlier, Nawaz established himself as key member of the Pakistan middle order heading into the World Cup.

“I just backed myself when I came on yesterday and today, all the preparation in the nets meant I had a clear mind,” said man-of-the-match Nawaz.

“I have been batting in the middle order in club cricket, which helps a lot, and I was very happy to fulfil the team’s expectations in me. We are looking forward to the World Cup now.”

Pakistan went into the tri-series with questions around their middle order but it wasn’t only Nawaz who stepped up. Haider Ali blasted 31 off 15 balls before Iftikhar Ahmed made 25 from 14 balls in an unbroken fifth-wicket partnership of 36 with Nawaz to ease those concerns.

“The way the middle order played was outstanding,” skipper Babar Azam said after the win. “Haider and Nawaz are outstanding, we needed to step up and perform.”

New Zealand counterpart Kane Williamson said they tried their best to defend a “competitive” total but Pakistan’s middle order made the difference.

“It was a great game of cricket,” Williamson said. “Pakistan are a very good side and credit for the way their middle order came out and changed momentum, because it wasn’t easy for guys coming in to try and get the rhythm of the surface.

“You always want 20 more runs but I thought the total was competitive. The wicket was on the lower side and the wind was strong on the longer side of the ground but again credit for the way the Pakistan came out. There was a lot of good in it, but it was frustrating not to get over the line.”

The Black Caps — World Cup finalists last year — started well with captain Kane Williamson the top-scorer with a masterful display of stroke play to chalk up 59 off 38 balls.

Put into bat, New Zealand lost both their openers in the first six powerplay overs though they continued to score at a healthy rate.

Williamson came in to settle nerves with his first half-century in any format in 2022 after struggling for form following an elbow injury while Glenn Phillips (29) and Mark Chapman (25) chipped in with cameos to lay the foundation for a big total.

Pakistan, however, bowled brilliantly in the back end of the New Zealand innings, conceding only 33 runs in the last five overs to restrict the hosts to a modest total.

In reply, formidable Pakistan openers Babar and Mohammad Rizwan, currently the top-ranked T20 batter, smashed Tim Southee, on his 100th T20 international appearance, for nine runs in the opening over, then hit Trent Boult for 10 in the second.

Bracewell then intervened and grabbed the wickets of Babar and Shan Masood, and Ish Sodhi trapped dangerman Rizwan lbw for 34 runs off 29 balls to leave Pakistan at 74-3 halfway through the 12th over.

But just as he did against Bangladesh, Nawaz came to the crease to wrestle back control of the match.

Nawaz began to boost the scoring with two fours from Blair Tickner’s bowling in the 13th over. In the 15th over Pakistan took 25 runs including three sixes from the bowling of Sodhi and that helped tip the match.

Pakistan needed 41 runs from the last five overs with seven wickets in hand. They had the upper hand when Haider hit boundaries from the first two balls of the 16th over. New Zealand fought back, claiming the wickets of Haider and Asif Ali (1) in quick succession.

But Nawaz combined with Iftikhar, whose towering six with three balls left clinched victory in style.

“It’s disappointing that we can’t take the winners’ cup home,” said Bracewell, who finished man of the series. “What lost us the game was those last couple of overs at both ends, but we can take a lot of positives into the World Cup.”

Scoreboard

NEW ZEALAND:

F. Allen c Nawaz b Naseem 12

D. Conway b Haris 14

K. Williamson c Shan b Shadab 59

G. Phillips c Shan b Nawaz 29

M. Chapman c Babar b Naseem 25

J. Neesham run out (Rizwan) 17

M. Bracewell not out 1

I. Sodhi c Rizwan b Haris 2

T. Southee not out 0

EXTRAS (B-2, LB-1, W-1) 4

TOTAL (for seven wickets, 20 overs) 163

DID NOT BAT: T. Boult, B. Tickner

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-12 (Allen), 2-47 (Conway), 3-97 (Phillips), 4-134 (Williamson), 5-158 (Chapman), 6-158 (Neesham), 7-161 (Sodhi)

BOWLING: Naseem 4-038-2, Haris 4-0-22-2 (1w), Wasim 4-0-37-0, Shadab 4-0-30-1, Nawaz 4-0-33-1

PAKISTAN:

Mohammad Rizwan lbw b Sodhi 34

Babar Azam c Williamson b Bracewell 15

Shan Masood c Allen b Bracewell 19

Mohammad Nawaz not out 38

Haider Ali c Chapman b Southee 31

Asif Ali c Boult b Tickner 1

Iftikhar Ahmed not out 25

EXTRAS (LB-2, W-3) 5

TOTAL (for five wickets, 19.3 overs) 168

DID NOT BAT: Shadab Khan, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-29 (Babar), 2-64 (Shan), 3-74 (Rizwan), 4-130 (Haider), 5-132 (Asif)

BOWLING: Southee 4-0-33-1, Boult 4-0-28-0 (1w), Bracewell 4-0-14-2 (1w), Tickner 3.3-0-33-1, Sodhi 4-0-58-1

RESULT: Pakistan won by five wickets to claim T20 tri-series title.

PLAYER-OF-THE-MATCH: Mohammad Nawaz

PLAYER-OF-THE-SERIES: Michael Bracewell.

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2022