A four-wicket spell from Haris Rauf and a blistering cameo from Asif Ali helped Pakistan defeat New Zealand in Sharjah on Tuesday by five wickets to make it two wins out of two at the ongoing T20 World Cup. The win will satisfy Pakistan all the more given the Blackcaps’ recent off-field snub, withdrawing from their tour to the Asian country citing security concerns. 

Haris Rauf was the pick of the Pakistan bowlers, finishing with figures of four for 22 from four overs as the Kiwis were restricted to 134 for the loss of eight from their stipulated 20 overs. 

Deprived of Lockie Ferguson – who has been ruled out of the tournament with a calf tear – The New Zealand bowlers rallied back as most batsmen, excluding Mohammad Rizwan (33), failed to fire. 

But the experienced Shoaib Malik (26) and Asif Ali (27) stitched a 48-run partnership for the sixth wicket to take Pakistan home with eight balls to spare.

Captain Babar Azam (9) and Rizwan made a decent start but they were finding it difficult to get the runs and the boundaries as the chase progressed. Azam was not at his fluent best as compared to his brilliant unbeaten 68 against India and was out in the sixth over, bowled by Tim Southee, who got his 100th wicket in T20 Internationals.

The Kiwis were in all sorts of trouble after they were invited to bat in the face a disciplined Pakistani bowling attack with opener Daryl Mitchell and Conway top-scoring with 27 each and captain Kane Williamson contributing 25.

New Zealand could not have one substantial partnership with their highest being the 36-run opening stand between Mitchell and Martin Guptill (17).

New Zealand’s next assignment will be to take on India on Sunday, while Pakistan will face Afghanistan on Friday.