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t20 series end in draw pak lost 2nd t20 by 17 runs

#pakvsnz t20 series end in draw both team won 1,1 match .1st match won by pakistan by 7 wickets and 2nd match won by newzeland by 17 runs and series end in draw

Like the Test series that preceded the Twenty20 games, New Zealand forged a comeback to beat Pakistan by 17 runs in Dubai to square the two-match series 1-1. A chase of 145 proved challenging on a slow pitch and New Zealand's slower bowlers made use of the conditions and relatively little dew to keep a tight grip on the chase.

Despite the early wickets, the result of Man-of-the-Match Anton Devcich's surprise spell at the top of the innings, Pakistan were in the game. The New Zealand bowlers had squeezed the equation down to 54 off the last five overs but with Shahid Afridi at the crease, Pakistan had more than a whiff of a chance. That chance evaporated in the 18th over, one of the worst of the innings, as Afridi was caught behind off a pull shot, after having smacked the previous ball bowled by a nervous James Neesham for a six.

Devcich opened the bowling for the first time in T20s and set up New Zealand's good start with the wickets of Sarfraz Ahmed and Mohammad Hafeez. Sarfraz's lbw was a doubtful decision, whereas Hafeez lobbed a return catch off a straight length ball.

Even at 24 for 3 in the fifth over, Pakistan's chase had not disintegrated. Ahmed Shehzad, playing his first game since a skull fracture, anchored the innings with a 40-run stand with Saad Nasim.

	Anton Devcich won the Man of the Match award for his 21 and 2 for 16 © AFP Enlarge

Nasim's dismissal though instigated a stutter. Vettori, playing his first T20 international since 2012, dismissed Shehzad for 33. Umar Akmal, Anwar Ali and Afridi fell in the next three overs and the match ended in the 19th. The wickets were neatly divided between the New Zealand bowlers - Devcich broke the top order finishing with 2 for 16, Neesham's 3 for 25 scooped out the middle-order and Kyle Mills then cleaned up the tail.

Both sides had gone into the game with a few changes. Pakistan brought back Shehzad and Gul in place of Awais Zia and Mohammad Irfan. New Zealand's changes were also forced by fitness concerns. A tight hamstring kept Martin Guptill out, while Corey Anderson was rested as a precaution after being hit on the helmet during the first T20. Dean Brownlie and Tom Latham were brought in their place and Kane Williamson had hoped that the depth in batting could help the side do better than the 135 they managed in the first game. They did, but only barely.

Williamson and Devcich did their job at the start of the innings, sharing a solid 49-run stand in seven overs. Williamson led the way, with pleasing footwork, especially against Gul, during his 32. After the Powerplay though, things went downhill. Hafeez added another left-handed batsman to his tally with Devcich's dismissal, Afridi got Brownlie and Williamson in successive overs which left Latham and Ross Taylor having to start all over again.

Taylor fell in the 13th over and the revival New Zealand needed, although a brief one, came in the form of a lively stand between Latham and Luke Ronchi, the latter reprising his rescue-act role from the first match. Their 38-run stand came off 23 deliveries courtesy Latham's sweeps and two towering, successive sixes from Ronchi.

Both players fell in successive overs towards the end of the innings, but their stand had done enough to help New Zealand put together 51 runs in the last five overs and their pace eventually made the difference.

sarfaz 76 and umar akaml quick 27 help pak win 7 wicket

Pakistan 140 for 3 (Sarfraz 76*, Umar Akmal 27*) beat New Zealand 135 for 7 (Anderson 48, Ronchi 33, Tanvir 2-24) by seven wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Opening for the first time in a T20 international, Sarfraz Ahmed made a breezy unbeaten 76 to steer Pakistan to a seven-wicket win over New Zealand at the Dubai International Stadium. Sarfraz put on 51 with Awais Zia for the first wicket, and an unbroken 43 with Umar Akmal for the fourth wicket, to take Pakistan past their target of 136 with five balls remaining, Akmal ending the contest with a straight six off James Neesham.

New Zealand had two good partnerships in the middle part of their innings, with Corey Anderson involved in both, but struggled either side of them. Their total was at least 15 short of being genuinely challenging, even if Pakistan kept the game interesting by losing two wickets to run-outs.

Sarfraz had only batted once in his four previous T20 games for Pakistan, at number eight, and he quickly set about showing what a waste of talent that had been, slapping Mitchell McClenaghan to the point boundary and stepping down the track to the debutant fast bowler Matt Henry to sweep him over the fine-leg boundary.

At the other end, Awais Zia looked a little leaden-footed against the pace of Henry and Adam Milne, but quickly realised he would be best served giving Sarfraz the strike. The pair brought up Pakistan's first half-century opening stand in 18 matches before lazy running brought about its end at the start of the ninth over. When Luke Ronchi threw out Mohammad Hafeez an over later, when the batsmen unwisely tried to pinch a leg-bye off a fumble, Pakistan were in a bit of a bother.

Sarfraz, though, wasn't letting the wickets disrupt his flow. He immediately crashed Corey Anderson for successive fours, and slogged him for a six over cow corner to bring up his half-century. That over brought Pakistan 17 runs, and brought the equation down to 59 required off 54 balls.

Sarfraz simply needed someone to stay with him and Haris Sohail seemed to be doing that before he swiped McClenaghan straight to the short midwicket fielder with Pakistan still 39 short of their target. Akmal came in, having missed out on Pakistan's recent Test upsurge, and instantly reminded fans of what they had been missing. Henry returned to bowl the 16th over, and Akmal took three fours off that over, the middle one a sweet pick-up shot over wide long-on. It was a canter from there on.

	Corey Anderson's 48 was the bright spot in a sub-par New Zealand innings © AFP Enlarge

Sent in to bat, New Zealand lost three wickets in their first three overs, each to a different bowler. Anwar Ali and Sohail Tanvir trapped Kane Williamson and Anton Devcich lbw, respectively, before Mohammad Irfan then consumed Ross Taylor with one that lifted from just back of a length and popped off the shoulder of the bat to point.

Martin Guptill and Anderson rebuilt the innings, picking up a boundary roughly every other over and putting on 46 off 41 balls. Guptill made 32 before Shahid Afridi bowled him through the gate with a slightly slower ball.

New Zealand entered their most productive period after the dismissal, with Anderson and Ronchi bringing up their half-century partnership off just 32 balls. Anderson's effortless power was in full evidence, particularly when he pulled Anwar for two flat sixes in the 13th over, and Ronchi was timing his drives through and over extra cover quite exquisitely.

At 110 for 4 at the end of the 15th over, New Zealand looked set for 150 at least, but their scoring stalled once Anderson miscued a pull to deep midwicket two short of 50. Irfan and Tanvir varied their pace expertly in the last two overs, giving away just nine runs between them and dismissing Neesham and Ronchi in the process. New Zealand found the boundary only once in their last five overs, and even that came off the bottom-edge.