A 129-run undefeated position between Kane Williamson and Tim Seifert and a four-wicket pitch from Tim Southee saw New Zealand take an impregnable 2-0 lead in the T20I series against Pakistan in Hamilton on Sunday.
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An impressive 99 * from Mohammad Hafeez was not enough to help Pakistan save the game, as New Zealand produced an excellent performance to seal the series in Game 2 at Seddon Park. Chasing 164 for a win, New Zealand was boosted by the centuries-old partnership between Seifert and Williamson for the second wicket.
Seifert started off with an attack from Shaheen Shah Afridi in the first over, bringing his form from the first T20I into the game. Martin Guptill looked good touch for his 21 before missing a shot to gift a catch to the deep fielder.
Williamson had a nervous lead to start their comeback, and the duo played it safe until the end of the power play with just 46 in the first six overs. It seemed to be a signal for Seifert to open up and he did so with poise, picking up three sixes in the first change after the Powerplay. Wahab Riaz was the recipient of some outstanding shots.
Seifert completed his second half-century on the trot in the 10th over with New Zealand already scoring at a rate of nine runs per over. Williamson also started from a modest start, hitting Rauf for two fours and six consecutive balls in the 13th. It completed its half century shortly after, and the chase seemed on its way, though the visitors managed to drag it to the end.
Earlier, Pakistan won the toss and opted to hit for the second time in as many games. New Zealand had Williamson, Boult and Southee back in the ranks, while Jacob Duffy, who won the last game as Man of the Match, was lost. The hosts got off to a good start with the ball. Southee was the destroyer-in-chief when he sent Haider Ali and Abdullah Shafique back to the same place.
Mohammad Rizwan, who had started with a pair of fours in Boult’s opening, hit the fence a few more times, but was unable to continue when Southee caught his third. The returning Kiwi pacemaker had Rizwan behind him with a tremendous swinger who faded late.
Hafeez picked up the pace with two fours each from Kyle Jamieson and Scott Kuggeleijn in their respective overs immediately after the power play. He lost Shadab Khan at the other end, but Hafeez remained unfazed.
Fallen zippers helped him along the way. At 47, Devon Conway dropped a babysitter square-legged back when his Kuggeleijn shot went straight to the fielder. Conway recovered quickly to fire on a pitch that forced Hafeez to dive, but he did it safely and soon completed half a century, his fourth in the year.
Mohammad Hafeez hits the highest T20I score of his career: 9️⃣9️⃣ * out of 57 balls 😱
🇵🇰 Pakistan finished 163/6 👌
Can you defend the total to level the series? #NZvPAK pic.twitter.com/EGj67joagi
– ICC (@ICC) December 20, 2020
Seifert and Southee, the second a difficult catch back, also knocked Hafeez off the hook. He made them count on a brutal attack in the last overs. From 59 of 39 after the 15th, Hafeez ran to 99 * on 57 balls, scoring 40 of his last 18 balls, including 18 in Jamieson’s final.
163 seemed like a reasonably good total for the visitors, but Seddon Park hadn’t seen a team defending fewer than 185 runs in a T20I game before and New Zealand kept the record intact with an incredible race chase.
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