WELLINGTON: Pakistan managed to avoid another whitewash scare on Sunday as spinners ran through New Zealand to pick up a commendable 42-run win in the fifth and final Twenty20 international.
The tourists lost the five-match series 4-1 but it ended on a positive note as they dismissed the Black Caps for a paltry 92 in defence of 134-8.
Part-time offspinner Iftikhar Ahmed produced career-best figures of 3-24 as a weakened New Zealand batting lineup struggled against the turning ball and were skittled for their eighth-lowest T20 total.
Only opener Finn Allen (22) and Glenn Phillips (26) passed 20 as Pakistan claimed the last eight wickets for 39 runs in comfortably their best bowling display of the series.
Left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz (2-18) was effective with the new ball, removing Rachin Ravindra and Will Young cheaply, while Shaheen Shah Afridi had something to cheer at the end of his maiden series as captain, taking 2-20.
New Zealand were missing three of their first-choice batters: Kane Williamson (knee injury), Devon Conway (Covid-19) and Daryl Mitchell (rested).
Earlier, it appeared the home side had done enough to push for a clean sweep when they restricted Pakistan’s batters with another disciplined bowling display.
Seamers Tim Southee, Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson all claimed two scalps, along with spinner Ish Sodhi.
Southee (2-19), the highest wicket-taker in T20 cricket, dismissed debutant Haseebullah Khan in the opening over and returned in the 13th over to remove the dangerous Fakhar Zaman, who had raced to 33 off 16 balls.
Top-scorer Mohammad Rizwan departed soon afterwards for 38 off 38, ultimately consigning Pakistan to the lowest first-innings score by either team in the series.
Shaheen Shah Afridi said it was “very important” his team avoided a whitewash series loss to New Zealand. He said the series was primarily seen as a chance to build towards the T20 World Cup in June but it would have been a setback to lose five from five.
“Today’s game was very important for us. We needed that as a unit to step forward,” Shaheen said.
“In the first four games, there were a lot of collapses, as a fielding unit, as a batting unit, but I think today we played as a team and we needed that win.
“It’s not easy for any team to come here. And I think our mind is on the World Cup. We’re just checking out every spot for every player and giving chances to youngsters.”
Meanwhile, New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner said their poor chase exposed some chinks.
“We’ve looked pretty good batting first and defending but, looking at today, we may need a bit of work chasing,” he said.
“In a chase like that, we talk about taking it as deep as we can and we didn’t do that. “But all in all a pretty good series. There were good signs, different guys stepping up at different times and that’s what you want,” he added.
