Pakistan won the T20 cricket record in New Zealand

By defending a total of 134 runs, they became the team to successfully defend the lowest target in New Zealand

Pakistan secured a remarkable T20 win by beating the home team by 42 runs in the fifth T20I in New Zealand and avoided a series whitewash. Despite facing a difficult situation after winning the toss and scoring 134 for 8, Pakistan successfully defended their score as New Zealand were bowled out for 92 in 17.2 overs.

This is the lowest T20I total successfully defended by any team in New Zealand. At one point New Zealand were in a good position at 53-2 but were bowled out inside 20 overs. Off-spinner Iftikhar Ahmed emerged as the stand-out bowler for Pakistan as they claimed figures of 24-3 in four overs while captain Shaheen Afridi and all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz claimed two wickets each.

Glenn Phillips scored 26 off 22 balls for the home side. Pakistan got off to a tough start in their batting innings, managing just 134-8 with a steady loss of wickets making it difficult to cope against New Zealand's disciplined bowling. Tim Southee, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson and Ash Sodhi took two wickets each to put New Zealand in a strong position to sweep the series 5-0.

Tim Southee, the highest wicket-taker in T20 cricket, set the tone for New Zealand with a maiden over that dismissed debutant Haseebullah Khan. The Southee returned in the 13th over to remove the aggressive Fakhar Zaman, who scored 33 off 16 balls. Despite Mohammad Rizwan's top score of 38 off 38 balls, Pakistan struggled and key batsman Babar Azam played a challenging innings of just 13 off 24 balls. Victory in the final T20I allowed Pakistan to avoid a complete whitewash, but New Zealand eventually won the series 4-1 to make it clear in the first four matches.