Iftikhar Ahmed helps Pakistan get consolation win in 4-1 T20I series loss against New Zealand

Pakistan bowled New Zealand out for 92 in the fifth and final T20I of the series in Christchurch on Sunday (Jan 21) for a consolation win in 4-1 series loss. Chasing a modest 135, NZ batters found it hard to face Player of the Match Iftikhar Ahmed's spin and were all out 42 runs short of the target. Ahmed finished with the figures of 3/24 in four overs while fellow spinner Mohammad Nawaz took 2/18 in four overs.

Batting first after winning the toss, Pakistan were rocked early as Tim Southee took the wicket of Haseebullah Khan in the first over itself. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan then added 53 runs for the second wicket before Ish Sodhi sent back Azam for 13. The Men in Green then kept losing wickets at regular intervals and managed 134/8 in 20 overs.

For New Zealand, only two batters crossed the 20-run mark while a total four players got in double digits as the Kiwis found themselves tangled in the Pak spin web. Player of the series Finn Allen could also manage only 22 runs while Glenn Phillips scored 26.

Speaking after the match, New Zealand skipper Mitch Santner acknowledged that they were out outplayed while chasing a moderate target.

"The pitch slowed down a lot and we were pretty happy with the score. We just got outplayed in the second innings. The power play was very important on a slow wicket. We talk about trying to take it deep but it's good learning," said Santner at the post-match presentation.

Pak skipper Shaheen Afridi also praised Iftikhar Ahmed and said: "Ifti (Iftikhar) is a very experienced player and he's always ready for the bowling but we wanted to give everyone a proper chance so we were planning to give chances to youngsters this series, we sorted out 16-20 players (for the World Cup)."