New Zealand level the T20 series in the last T20I match - The 1st T20 saw a close encounter between Pakistan and New Zealand as the visitors made life difficult for the home side to score runs at ease and thus it resulted into Pakistan winning the match with only 5 balls remaining. The New Zealanders ensured that a low scoring match was turned into a cracker of a thriller. The 2nd match was played at the same venue and after winning the toss the Pakistan captain decided to field once again.
Batting first the openers provided the team a good start scoring 49 runs for the 1st wicket in 7 overs. Anton Devcich lost his wicket at a score of 21 runs and this provided the break for the home side as they took some quick wickets and restricted the team to 78/4. Kane Williamson the other opener scored 32 runs before losing his wicket. Tom Latham and Luke Ronchi in the middle clicked for the visitors scoring some essential runs. Latham scored 26 while Ronchi was able to reach a score of 31 runs before losing their wickets. The New Zealanders were able to post a total of 144 runs at the end of 20 overs.
The Pakistan team too didn’t have a good start to the match as the top order failed to be affective with the bat. The team was struggling at 24/3 in 5 overs of the innings. Ahmed Shehzad scored 33 runs before losing his wicket as the team went into more trouble at 74/5 in 15th over. The lower order too chipped in with runs but it was not that affective as the team was able to reach a score of 127 in 19 overs before getting bowled out by the visitors. Kyle Mills and James Neesham took 3 wickets each to ensure that the 2 match series was levelled 1-1. Anton Devcich was named as the man of the match for his all-round performance both with the bat as well as the bowl.