Batting first, Pakistan put 166 runs on the board and losing three wickets in the process during the allotted 20 overs in the third T20I against New Zealand at the Dubai Cricket Stadium.
Babar Azam and Mohammad Hafeez remained the pick of batsmen and made a 94 run for the second-wicket partnership, scoring 79 and 53 runs, respectively.
Babar became the fastest player to reach 1,000 Twenty20 international runs. When Azam reached 48 he completed the landmark in just 26 innings, beating the previous record set by India’s Virat Kohli who reached 1,000 runs in 27 Twenty20 innings.
The men-in-green have rested pacers Shaheen Afridi and Hasan Ali, and have handed a debut to Waqas Maqsood — that too on his 31st birthday. Usman Khan is also back in the side for the last T20 fixture.
If Pakistan win this match, it would be their ninth T20 victory on the trot. In their last outing on Friday, Pakistan lived up to their billing as the world’s best Twenty20 team with a six-wicket victory over New Zealand in Dubai to clinch the three-match series 2-0.
Squad:
Pakistan: Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Asif Ali, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez, Sarfraz Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan, Waqas Maqsood New Zealand: Colin Munro, Glenn Phillips, Kane Williamson, Colin de Grandhomme, Mark Chapman, Ross Taylor, Tim Seifert, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Ish Sodhi, Seth Rance
