Pakan collapse dramatically, lose 7 wickets in 7 overs in defeat to New Zealand | Cricket News

Seven wickets, seven overs, just 22 runs. And just like that, a match that was heading for a nail-biting finish ended in a one-sided, 73-run win for New Zealand in Napier on Saturday.
Chasing 345, Pakan were going all out, giving the home team a real scare. They reduced the equation to 97 runs in 12 overs with seven wickets in hand. Then came the dramatic collapse.
It started with Babar Azam, who was leading Pakan’s chase, in the 39th over. Azam pulled Will O’Rourke’s back-of-the-length to deep midwicket, where he was caught Daryl Mitchell just inches off the boundary. His dismissal, for 78 (83 balls, 5×4, 3×6), opened the floodgates.
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In the next over, Pakan lost two more wickets in back-to-back balls. Tayyab Tahir was run out for 1, thanks to a direct hit from Jacob Duffy. On the next ball, Ifan Niazi chopped the ball onto the stumps for a golden duck, leaving the visitors in disarray.

A crucial catch! The big wicket of Babar Azam (78) falls as Daryl Mitchell catches him on the boundary in the deep. Follow LIVE and free in NZ on TVNZ + & DUKE and @SportNationNZ Live scoring | https://t.co/CvmR1mQN5I #NZvPAK #CricketNation pic.twitter.com/hXmJwSQyQS
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) March 29, 2025
Salman Agha, who hit a fine half-century, tried to keep the run chase alive but Pakan lost two more wickets in the 43rd over — first after Naseem Shah was caught at mid-off Michael Bracewell off Nathan Smith for a duck. Four balls later, Haris Rauf departed for 1 after being fabulously caught Nicholls at midwicket.
And when Agha was dismissed in the 44th over for a well-made 58 (48 balls, 5×4, 2×6) — caught superbly Bracewell, who dived forward, got his fingers underneath the ball and held on to it — whatever little hopes Pakan had evaporated.
In the following, Smith dismissed Akif Javed to seal a comprehensive 73-run win for New Zealand.
Earlier, Mark Chapman — who was named the Player of the Match — scored a fantastic 132 off 111 balls (13×4, 6×6) to propel New Zealand to 344. He was well supported Mitchell (76) and Muhammad Abbas (52).