New Zealand clinches easy 9-wicket victory over Pakistan

New Zealand have strengthened their foot in the tri-series as they beat Pakistan by 9 wickets in the 4th match of the series. Pakistan elected to bat first after winning the toss and started very slow early in their inning and lost the wicket of Mohammad Rizwan inside the powerplay.

He was dismissed for just 16 runs by Michael Bracewell in 5th over. Pakistan never had any crucial partnership in between and kept losing wickets at regular intervals.

No batter looked comfortable out in the middle as Kiwi bowlers kept things tight for their opponents. Iftikhar Ahmed and Asif Ali were the only batters after skipper Babar Azam to cross the 20-run mark.

Their little contribution made it possible for the men in green to post a total of 130/7 in their 20 overs. The trio of Tim Southee, Mitchell Santner, and Michael Bracewell was brilliant with the ball as they all took three wickets each with Ish Sodhi getting a single wicket.

Chasing the target, New Zealand never faced any problem as they started strongly with over a 100-run opening stand. Finn Allen scored 2nd half-century of his T2OI career before falling prey to Shadab Khan in 14th over.

Devon Conway on the other hand continued his brilliance with the bat and ensured a 9-run victory with skipper Williamson himself alongside. Conway remained unbeaten in 49 runs with the skipper finishing the game with almost four overs to spare.

Michael Bracewell who took 2 wickets for just 11 runs in his four overs was adjudged as player of the match. These two teams themselves look most probable to play the final of the tri-series with two games still to go.

The 5th and 6th games will be played on October 12 and October 13 respectively followed by the final on Friday at Christchurch.