Daryl Mitchell (57 off 58) and Tom Latham (56 off 64) helped New Zealand clinch a tri-nation series by thumping Pakistan by five wickets at the Karachi stadium on Friday.
Chasing a 243-run target, New Zealand completed the equation with five wickets remaining. After facing early hiccup by losing Will Young (5 off 7), Devon Conway (48 off 74) and Kane Williamson (34 off 49) provided an impetus to the visitors’ innings.
Subsequently, Mitchell and Latham took the responsibility and ensured to dash the Green Shirts’ hopes of winning the tri-nation series and boost the morale ahead of the Champions Trophy.
Glenn Phillips and Michael Bracewell remained unbeaten on 20 and 2 respectively, to clinch the victory with 28 balls remaining.
Earlier, New Zealand pace bowler Will O'Rourke took four wickets to restrict Pakistan to a modest 242 runs in the tri-series final in Karachi on Friday.
O'Rourke finished with figures of 4-43 and was ably supported by the spinners Mitchell Santner (2-20) and Michael Bracewell (2-38), as Pakistan were dismissed in 49.3 overs after they won the toss and batted.
The skipper Mohammad Rizwan top-scored with a 76-ball 46, while Salman Agha hit 45 off 65 balls, with slow and variable bounce on *the* National Stadium pitch proving tough for batting.
The final was a dress rehearsal for the opening match of the Champions Trophy between the same teams at the same venue on Wednesday.
Pakistan lost the opener Fakhar Zaman to O'Rourke in the fourth over for 10, and then Saud Shakeel for eight. Babar Azam looked good for his 29 runs, hitting four boundaries and a six, and reached 6,000 runs scored in the one-day internationals when he was on 10.
He was playing his 123rd innings, the joint fastest to reach the 6,000-runs milestone with the South African Hashim Amla.
Azam fell to a miscued shot off Nathan Smith, leaving Pakistan struggling at 54-3. Rizwan and Agha, who shared a match-winning 260-run partnership against South Africa on Wednesday, then revived the innings with an 88-run stand.
Rizwan hit four boundaries and a six, but he and Agha fell within 19 runs of each other, ending any hope of a big total. Tayyab Tahir hit a 33-ball 38, also with four boundaries and a six, while Faheem Ashraf (22) and Naseem Shah (19) added 39 invaluable runs to get Pakistan past 240.
