T20 I: Pakistan level series against spirited New Zealand

LAHORE: Shaheen Afridi’s 4-30 led Pakistan to a series-levelling nine-run win over a spirited New Zealand in its fifth and final Twenty20 on Saturday.

Batting allrounder Josh Clarkson looked like getting New Zealand a stunning series win but his last two partners ran themselves out trying to feed him the strike.

New Zealand was all out for 169 with four balls left in reply to Pakistan’s 178-5, and Clarkson finished with a career-best 38 not out off 26 balls.

The Kiwis came without nine frontline players and were expected to be swept in the series, which was also preparation for the T20 World Cup in June. After a first-game washout they were bowled out for 90 but fought back to come within four balls of stealing the series.

Pakistan rode captain Babar Azam’s 69 off 44 balls but New Zealand continued the home team’s struggles in the middle overs with disciplined spin and seam bowling.

New Zealand clawed its way back. Ben Sears clean-bowled Babar with a fiery yorker but the seamer was punished by left-hander Fakhar Zaman (43) in the death overs. Pakistan scored 55 runs in the last five overs.

New Zealand’s reply cruised to 81-1 in eight overs before the top order was spun into knots. Agencies

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