Late charge takes Pakistan to victory over NZ

Pakistan cruised to their second successive victory as they defeated New Zealand by five wickets in the ICC Twenty20 Cricket World Cup Group Two match played at the Sharjah Stadium yesterday.

After restricting New Zealand to 134 for eight, Pakistan raced to their target with five wickets and eight balls to spare as Shoaib Malik and Asif Ali shared an unfinished sixth wicket stand of 48 runs.

This was after Haris Rauf had picked up a four-wicket haul to strangle the New Zealand batsmen after they were invited to bat first.

Chief scores

New Zealand: 134/8 in 20 overs (Daryl Mitchell 27, Kane Williamson 25, Devon Conway 27, Haris Rauf 4/22)

Pakistan: 135/5 in 18.4 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 33, Shoaib Malik 27 n.o, Asif Ali 27 n.o, Ish Sodhi 2/29). (Agencies)