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Toss Pakistan opted to bat vs New Zealand
Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat in the fifth and final T20I in Christchurch in their bid to avoid a clean sweep. They made three changes to the side that lost the fourth T20I two days earlier resting opener Saim Ayub along with fast bowlers Haris Rauf and Mohammad Wasim. Haseebullah Khan, a 20-year-old top-order batter, was handed a debut with fast bowler Abbas Afridi and legspinner Usama Mir also coming in.
Haseebullah turned out for Peshawar Zalmi in the PSL last season and has played 20 T20 games scoring 403 runs at 25.18. He had hammered a 29-ball 50 on PSL debut against Karachi Kings.
With the T20I played on the same surface as Friday, Pakistan captain Shaheen Shah Afridi expected the ball to turn.
New Zealand made two changes with Rachin Ravindra and Ish Sodhi coming in for Daryl Mitchell and Adam Milne. Mitchell was pulled out of this game as New Zealand look to manage his workload. Head coach Gary Stead had earlier also said that Devon Conway, who was ruled out of the fourth T20I due to Covid-19 “still has symptoms at the moment”
New Zealand are vying for a 5-0 clean sweep having registered four comfortable wins so far this series. In the previous game at the same venue, it was Glenn Phillips and Mitchell who starred with half-centuries with the hosts chasing down Pakistan’s target of 159 in 18.1 overs.
New Zealand: Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Seifert (wk), Will Young, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner (capt), Ish Sodhi, Matt Henry, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson
Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Haseebullah Khan, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Sahibzada Farhan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi (capt), Usama Mir, Abbas Afridi, Zaman Khan
