Allen, Duffy shine as New Zealand rout Pakistan to seal series

New Zealand bounce back from defeat riding on a blistering knock from the opener and a four-wicket haul from the seamer

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Opener Finn Allen and fast bowler Jacob Duffy have produced dazzling shows with the bat and the ball to power New Zealand to a thumping 115-run series-clinching win over Pakistan in the fourth T20 in Mount Maunganui.

Asked to bat first, Tim Serifert continued his blazing form with a 22-ball 44, Allen blasted a blistering 20-ball 50 and skipper Michael Bracewell (46 off 26 balls) launched a late onslaught to propel their team to a huge 220 for 6 at the Bay Oval on Sunday.

Chasing a staggering 221 to win, Pakistan batsmen were put to the sword by New Zealand seamers in swinging conditions as the visitors folded for a measly 105 in 16.2 overs, allowing the Black Caps to secure a 3-1 series win with a match to spare.

The chase never took off as Pakistan, who pulled off an astonishing 205-chase with 9 wickets and 4 overs to spare in the previous game, failed to take advantage of the dew factor this game.

Will O’Rourke (1-29) removed opener Mohammad Haris (2) by nipping back late, Duffy (4-20) sent Hasan Nawaz (1), the centurion from the last game, and skipper Salman Agha (1) in the second over to reduce Pakistan early.

Zakary Foulkes (3-25) struck immediately after being introduced, swinging in through the gates of Shadab Khan (1) with his first ball. Eventually, Pakistan slumped to 56 for 8 as the game all but ended.

However, Abdul Samad, at 7, then fought a lone battle with his 30-ball 44, but it was way past time for recovery. Duffy and Foulkes then cleaned up the tail.

Earlier, Seifert and Allen clubbed the Pakistan seamers who could not settle their lengths to pose any threat to the batsmen early on.

Shaheen Shah Afridi (0-49), Khushdil Shah, who bowled only an over that went for 12 runs, and Abrar Ahmed (2-41) kept conceding runs as New Zealand raced away to fifty in only 3.5 overs.

It was Haris Rauf (3-27) who broke the 59-run opening stand with a short ball, but New Zealand still ended the powerplay at 79 for 1, which is the second highest powerplay total for any teams against Pakistan in the men’s game.

After conceding 19 runs in his first over, Abrar gave away another 16 in his second as Allen hammered two fours and a six.

The opener continued his charge by smashing two more fours and as many sixes off Shadab in a 23-run 10th over to reach his half-century off only 19 balls.

But New Zealand slipped from 134 for 2 to 149 for 5 in five boundary-less overs as Allen perished to Abbas Afridi (1-38).

Despite the sluggish middle overs, the hosts pummelled 63 runs in the last five overs, thanks to Bracewell who cracked five 4s and two 6s in some late fireworks.