New Zealand clinched yet another T20I series at home as they hammered Pakistan by 45 runs in the 3rd T20I at the University Oval in Dunedin on Wednesday, January 17. The hosts outplayed the Shaheen Shah Afridi-led side in the game after opener Finn Allen's record-breaking ton set the tone up front.
Shaheen Afridi got lucky with the toss at the start but his decision to send New Zealand in backfired. Allen's whirlwind knock of 137 off 62 balls ripped Pakistan's bowling to shreds as none of their seamers managed to escape the former's onslaught.
Allen broke numerous Kiwi records during his knock. He went past Corey Anderson (10) to record the most number of sixes (16) in a T20I innings ever hit by a Kiwi and also broke the record for most runs (116) in boundaries in a T20I innings for New Zealand going past Brendon McCullum's tally of 96.
New Zealand posted an imposing total of 224 for the loss of seven wickets in their 20 overs and Pakistan needed to record their highest-ever chase in the shortest format of the game to stay alive in the series.
In reply, Pakistan failed to make the most out of the batting wicket and didn't look like chasing the total down at any stage during their run chase.
Former captain Babar Azam waged a lone battle as he smashed a third-consecutive fifty in the series and salvaged the pride of his side. Babar scored 58 runs off 37 balls at a strike rate of 156.75 and smashed eight fours and a maximum during the course of innings.
Mohammad Nawaz (28 off 15 balls) and Shaheen (16* off 11 balls) set a few fireworks towards the fag end of the innings but it was too little too late as the Kiwis romped home in a convincing manner to take an unassailable lead.
