Seifert, Williamson star as New Zealand take series against Pakistan

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A stunning 99* from Mohammad Hafeez wasn't enough to help Pakistan salvage the game as New Zealand produced a fine all-round performance to seal the series in the second match at Seddon Park. Chasing 164 for a win, New Zealand were driven by the century partnership between Seifert and Williamson for the second wicket.

Seifert began with a cracking drive off Shaheen Shah Afridi in the first over, carrying his form from the first T20I into the game. Martin Guptill looked in good touch for his 21 before miscuing a pull shot to gift a catch to the deep fielder.

Williamson had a nervy edge to start off with on his return, and the duo played it safe until the end of powerplay with just 46 coming off the first six overs. It seemed to be a cue for Seifert to open up and he did so with aplomb, collecting three sixes in the first over after the Powerplay. Wahab Riaz was at the receiving end of some outstanding hitting.

Seifert completed his second half-century on the trot in the 10th over with New Zealand already scoring at a rate of nine runs per over. Williamson too kicked off from a modest start, hitting Rauf for two fours and a six off successive balls in the 13th over. He completed his half-century soon after and the run-chase seemed on track, though the visitors managed to drag it to the final over.

Earlier, Pakistan won the toss and opted to bat for the second time in as many games. New Zealand had Williamson, Boult and Southee back in the ranks while Jacob Duffy, who won the Player of the Match last game, missed out. The hosts started off well with the ball yet again. Southee was the destructor-in-chief as he sent back Haider Ali and Abdullah Shafique in the same over.

Mohammad Rizwan, who had begun with a couple of fours in Boult's opening over, found the fence a couple more times, but he couldn't carry on as Southee snared his third. The returning Kiwi pacer had Rizwan edging behind with a terrific out-swinger that shaped away late.

Hafeez picked up the pace with two fours each off Kyle Jamieson and Scott Kuggeleijn in their respective overs immediately after the powerplay. He lost Shadab Khan at the other end, but Hafeez carried on unperturbed.

He was helped on the way by some dropped catches. On 47, Devon Conway put down a sitter at deep backward square-leg when his pull off Kuggeleijn went straight to the fielder. Conway recovered quickly to fire in a throw that forced Hafeez to dive in, but he had made it safely and soon went on to complete a half-century, his fourth in the year.

Seifert and Southee - the second one a difficult return catch - also let Hafeez off the hook. He made them count with a brutal onslaught in the final few overs. From 59 off 39 after the 15th over, Hafeez raced to 99* in 57 balls, scoring 40 off his last 18 balls, including 18 in the final over by Jamieson.

163 seemed a reasonably good total by the visitors, but Seddon Park hadn't witnessed a side defending less than 185 runs in a T20I game before and New Zealand kept the record intact with an incredible run-chase.