Pakistan record fastest-ever 200+ chase in T20Is

Pakistan shattered the record for the fastest-ever 200+ chase in T20Is, beating New Zealand by nine wickets in Auckland on Friday night.

The visitors came into the match at Eden Park as heavy underdogs across T20 bookmakers after losing the first two matches of the series by considerable margins.

Bet365 put the Black Caps at just $1.25 to win, while Pakistan were a long $4 to keep the five-match series alive.

When New Zealand got off to a flier through Tim Seifert (19 from 9) and Mark Chapman (94 from 44), live betting odds shortened even further in the host’s favour.

They raced out to 3/135 off 11.4 overs and looked well on their way to a 250+ score.

However, after Shaeen Shah Afridi removed Chapman six runs shy of his century, wickets began to flow for the men in green.

Spinner Abrar Ahmed took two in two balls, and all of a sudden the Kiwis were in danger of not posting a winning total.

A rearguard effort by Michael Bracewell (31 from 18) with the help of Ish Sodhi (10 from 10) helped them limp past 200, but 204 all-out was all they could manage from 19.5 overs.

Cricket betting sites still had New Zealand as moderate favourites at the halfway mark of the match, however, given Pakistan had failed to exceed 135 runs in their previous two outings.

That was not to be the case on Friday though, as young Hasan Nawaz found his range and plundered an unbeaten 105 runs from 45 balls – Pakistan’s highest in T20Is – to power his side over the line with 24 balls remaining.

The opener had excellent company in the form of Mohammad Haris (41 from 20) initially and then Salman Agha (51 from 31) who also carried his bat.

New Zealand’s bowlers were all underwhelming, with Kyle Jamieson particularly lacklustre, going for 54 runs from his four overs without taking a wicket – a match to forget for him after he was removed for a golden duck earlier in the evening.

“I think it’s an outstanding performance,” Pakistan captain Agha said afterwards.

“A full proper game. Bowlers started really well; we took early wickets which was missing (in the first two games).

“The two youngsters batted really well.

“I thought 200 is par here, it’s a good ground for batting. I just said, we can chase this down.

“The bowlers did really well, restricting them to 200 was a great effort.

“We knew it was do or die and we just wanted to enjoy and now looking forward to the next game.”

The two sides meet again on Sunday in Mount Maunganui, where top betting apps have shortened Pakistan’s odds of winning and levelling the series to $2.75.

New Zealand still remain favourites to win at $1.44 with the top online bookmakers.

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