New Zealand take unassailable 3-0 lead, beating Pakistan in third T20I

Finn Allen smashed 137 runs in 62 balls as New Zealand set Pakistan a daunting 225-run target on Wednesday.

In reply, Babar Azam, 58 off 37, scored his third consecutive fifty of the series but it was not enough to take Pakistan over the line.

Mitchell Santner bowled an economical spell, taking one wicket for 26 runs in four overs.

Allen took Pakistan to the cleaners as he notched up the highest individual score for New Zealand in men’s T20Is, surpassing the previous best of 123 set by Brendon McCullum. He also hit the joint-most sixes, 16, in an innings in men’s T20Is.

The opener was particularly harsh on Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf, smashing 27 off one over including three sixes, two fours and a single.

Allen’s whirlwind knock put New Zealand in a strong position to clinch the five-match series with two matches left and maintain their unbeaten record at Dunedin’s University Oval.

After the early departure of Devon Conway for seven, Allen and Tim Seifert added 125 for the second wicket, with Seifert only contributing 31 as he decided to take singles to keep in-form batter on strike.

The umpires had to call for replacement balls thrice, after Allen smacked them out of the park.

The opener was eventually dismissed in the 18th over when he was bowled by an off-cutter from Zaman Khan, who then applauded the New Zealand batter as he left the field.

Both teams made three changes heading into the clash.

Lockie Ferguson, Tim Seifert, and Mathew Henry came in for Kane Williamson, Adam Milne and Ben Sears.

Leg-spinner Usama Mir and all-rounder Aamer Jamal were excluded from the Pakistan lineup, while pacer Abbas Afridi was ruled out due to a low grade abdominal wall muscle strain.

Mohammad Wasim Jr, Mohammad Nawaz and Zaman Khan replaced the aforementioned trio for Pakistan.

Lineups
New Zealand: Finn Allen, Devon Conway, Tim Seifert (wk), Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner (c), Matthew Henry, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson

Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan (vc), Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Azam Khan (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi (c), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Haris Rauf, Zaman Khan