With the third straight win, New Zealand is all set to book a spot in the semi-finals of the WT20, after beating Pakistan by 22 runs last night.
New Zealand won the toss and opted to bat first and scored 180 in their allotted 20 overs. Pakistan who came to bat next, could only make 158 for 5.
Sharjeel Khan gave a flying start scoring 47 runs in just 25 balls and by the end of the fourth over, Pakistan witnessed 50 run mark.
Up to 6th over, Pakistan scored 65 for no loss of wickets, but later Sharjeel ended up giving a catch up Guptill off the bowling of Adam Milne.
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Mitchell Santner, the left-arm spinner, then had Ahmed Shehzad, caught by Guptill for 30 in the 9th over with Pakistan at 79-2.
While Pakistan was in tough situation suddenly, skipper Shahid Afridi gave few hopes, with a few of the boundaries and a huge six.
However, in 16th over, the skipper had to leave the pavilion, leaving the team in a spot of bother at 123-4.
Shoaib Malik and Sarfraz Ahmed were unbeaten on 15 and 11 respectively, when the match ended.
Earlier, opener Martin Guptill smashed his 10th fifty in WT20 to power New Zealand to 180 for 5 against Pakistan. The right-hander hit 10 fours and 3 sixes in his 48-ball 80, sharing an opening stand of 62 with captain Kane Williamson.
Guptill also combined with Corey Anderson (21) for a 3rd wicket stand of 52 that set the platform for Ross Taylor (36 not out) to finish with a flourish.
Right-arm pacer Sami took the prized wicket of Guptill in the 15th over, but by then, he had done the damage.
After Sami bowled Guptill, Ross Taylor came onto the field and scored a quick 36 out of 23 balls.
Mohammad Sami and captain Shahid Afridi picked up two wickets apiece for Pakistan, who made two changes to the team that lost to arch-rivals India on Saturday.
Mohammad Hafeez failed to recover from a knee injury, while paceman Wahab Riaz was hit in the head by a ball during practice, and were replaced by Khalid Latif and Imad Wasim, a spin-bowling all-rounder.
As New Zealand already defeated India and Australia in Group Two, the fresh victory against Pakistan would cement its place in the last four.
By Phani Ch
