New Zealand overcome Iftikhar blitz to register narrow win

Tom Latham's 50 years and an aggregate exertion with the ball assisted New Zealand with remaining alive in the series against Pakistan as they conquered a fabulous thump from Iftikhar Ahmed to enroll a restricted four-run triumph in the third T20I in Lahore on Monday (April 17). Latham struck a 49-ball 64 while Daryl Mitchell and Imprint Chapman thought of valuable thumps down the request to help New Zealand to 163/5. Pakistan were diminished to 88/7 at one point in the pursuit before Iftikhar drove a splendid fightback, scoring a 24-ball 60 which included six maximums. The hosts, requiring 15 off the last finished, stayed in the chase as Iftikhar struck a six and a four off James Neesham. In any case, his excusal off the fourth ball and Haris Rauf's wicket off the last ball implied that Pakistan wound up short. A magnificent catch from Rachin Ravindra brought about Babar Azam falling in the second over of the pursuit to Adam Milne, who began with a wicket-lady. Mohammad Rizwan was pursued out soon and Pakistan oversaw just 35/2 in the powerplay. New Zealand kept on striking at customary stretches to leave the hosts battling at 54/4 at the midway phase of the innings. New Zealand kept on chipping ceaselessly and Pakistan were left requiring 87 off 35 conveyances with just three wickets remaining. However, Iftikhar, who had previously struck two sixes in a Ravindra over, took the assault to Neesham and Milne, and got great help from Faheem Ashraf, who struck 27 off 14 in a 61-run eighth wicket stand that fell off just 26 conveyances. Iftikhar raised a 20-ball fifty however Faheem fell in the penultimate over to Matt Henry, who yielded just 8. Iftikhar then viewed as lengthy on in the last over attempting to clear the wall, and Rauf couldn't take care of business eventually. Prior, subsequent to picking to bat, New Zealand had a sluggish powerplay too as they oversaw just 35 runs and furthermore lost the wicket of Chad Bowes early. Latham had scored just 19 off 21 conveyances while Will Youthful had a sluggish beginning as well. A greatest for Youthful off Shadab Khan and two or three limits in the eighth over off Ashraf helped New Zealand raise the stakes however the legspinner finished the No.3's visit in the 10th over. Toward the finish of the tenth over, New Zealand were 64/2, with the onus on Latham and Mitchell to lead the group towards a decent aggregate. Latham, who was on 34 off 32, changed gears with a four and a six off Imad Wasim in the twelfth over. Mitchell took on Shadab to score a six and two fours as New Zealand crossed the 100-run mark. Latham got to a 41-ball 50 and afterward struck a six off Shaheen Afridi however Mitchell was gobbled up by the left-arm pacer, finishing a 65-run stand. Latham tumbled to Haris in the seventeenth over however Neesham and Chapman scored three fours and a six between them to help New Zealand past 160, which pretty much demonstrated adequate. Brief scores: New Zealand 163/5 in 20 overs (Tom Latham 64, Daryl Mitchell 33; Haris Rauf 2-31) beat Pakistan 159 in 20 overs (Iftikhar Ahmed 60, Faheem Ashraf 27; James Neesham 3-38) by 4 runs.