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New Zealand continued their dominance against Pakistan in the ongoing T20I series. In the second match of the five-match series at University Oval in Dunedin, New Zealand defeated Pakistan by five wickets to take a lead of 2-0 in the series. For the Black Caps, Tim Seifert shone with a fiery knock of 45(22) runs and won player of the match for his performance.
Batting first in a rain affected encounter, Pakistan posted 135/9 in their 15 overs. Skipper Salman Ali Agha was the top scorer with 46(28) runs hitting four fours and three sixes, while Shadab Khan and Shaheen Afridi also scored 26 runs and 22* runs respectively. For New Zealand, Ish Sodhi, James Neesham, Jacob Duffy and Ben Sears scalped two wickets each.
Tim Seifert and Finn Allen give fiery start to New Zealand in run chase
Chasing the winning target, New Zealand got a great start as Tim Seifert and Finn Allen put up an opening partnership of 66 runs in 4.4 overs. Seifert got out after scoring 45 runs off 22 balls smashing three fours and five sixes, while Allen also scored a quickfire 38 runs off 16 balls with one four and five sixes. However, the hosts lost quick wicekts in the middle overs and were reduced to 97/4 after 8.3 overs.
After that, Daryll Mitchell and Mitchell Hay added 35 runs for the fifth wicket. Daryl scored a run-a-ball 14 runs while Hay remained unbeaten on 21*(16) runs as New Zealand chased the winning target in 13.1 overs losing five wickets. For Pakistan, Haris Rauf took two wickets, while Mohammad Ali, Khushdil Shah, Jahandad Khan scalped a wicket each
