Christchurch [New Zealand], January 21 (ANI): New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner admitted that the hosts got outplayed in the 5th T20I as they failed to clinch a whitewash over Pakistan.
New Zealand were outmanoeuvred by Pakistan’s trio of spinners consisting of Mohammad Nawaz, Iftikhar Ahmed and Usama Mir during their 42-run victory.
After the game, Santner stated that they fell short during the powerplay and got outplayed in the second innings after a strong outing with the ball.
“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,” Santner said after the match.
The experienced off-break spinner, bagged the Player of the Match award for his game-changing spell of 3-24.
After the game, he talked about the game plan that was hidden behind his successful outing and said, “I read the wicket and bowled accordingly, the wicket was turning so I tried to bowl wicket by wicket. Yes it was decided that I will bowl today, Shaheen told me before the game and I was preparing for it. If the captain wants, I am available to bowl as I have done before as well.”
Coming to the match, after winning the toss and succumbing to a total of 134/8, Pakistan bounced back with a clinical bowling spell.
Pakistan played their cards correctly on a surface that fell on a slower side. Zaman Khan and Nawaz provided the ideal start to the visitors in the powerplay by removing Rachin Ravindra (1) and Finn Allen (22).
The pressure of constantly increasing gap between runs and balls crept into the minds of Kiwi batters. They tried to play on the aggressive foot but continued to lose wickets at regular intervals.
With two wickets in hand, Glenn Phillips (26) tried to fight the battle on his own, shifted through gears in the end, scored a four and then a maximum to keep NZ in the chase.
But skipper Shaheen Afridi’s pace got better of Phillips and then Lockie Ferguson which helped them avoid a whitewash. (ANI)
