Babar Azam, Pakistan’s white-ball captain revealed the reason behind the defeat in third T20I against New Zealand at Pindi Cricket Stadium on Sunday.

New Zealand beat Pakistan by seven wickets in the third T20I of the five-match series. Batting first Pakistan set target of 178/4 however the visiting team comfortably chased down the total for the loss of just three wickets and 10 balls to spare.

Commenting on the loss, Babar Azam said in the post-match ceremony “I don’t think the slow run rate during the middle overs made much of a difference because we had caught up. You can say we were 10 runs short.”

He termed Rizwan’s injury a setback to Pakistan saying “Unfortunately, we had a bit of a setback with Rizwan [injury] because it wasn’t easy for new batsmen but I think Shadab recovered well and had an outstanding partnership with Irfan. In Pindi, 180-190 is a par score. In batting, we did well.”

It is pertinent to mention here that Chapman’s unbeaten 87 propelled the Kiwis to a commanding seven-wicket win over Babar-led Pakistan side  in the third Twenty20 International.

Chapman smashed 87 runs in just 42 balls with nine 4s and four 6s. Champan was also declared player of the match for his outstanding knock.

Pakistan squad playing XI

Babar Azam (c), Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Usman Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Irfan Khan Niazi, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Amir and Abrar Ahmed.

New Zealand playing XI

Michael Bracewell (c), Tim Seifert (wk), Tim Robinson, Dean Foxcroft, Mark Chapman, James Neesham, Josh Clarkson, Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy, Ben Sears and Benjamin Lister.

Pakistan vs New Zealand T20I series schedule

April 18 — 1st T20I, Rawalpindi

April 20 — 2nd T20I, Rawalpindi

April 21 — 3rd T20I, Rawalpindi

April 25 — 4th T20I, Lahore

April 27 — 5th T20I, Lahore