On Monday (April 24), New Zealand played Pakistan in the fifth T20I at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. Hong Kong-born Mark Chapman became the unlikely hero of the game as he scored an impressive century to help New Zealand win the match. He smashed 104 runs in 57 balls, wi𝄹th 11 fours and four sixes, to lead his team to a thrilling victory. As a result, New Zealand tied the series at 2-2 and prevented Pakistan from winning the trophy on home turf.
New Zealand faced a daunting target of 194 runs to chase and had a horrible start, losing four early wickets. Captain Tom Latham was dismissed on the first ball of the innings, while Chad Bowes, Will Young and Daryl Mitchell could not make a significant contribution.
At 73/4 after 9.5 overs, the situation looked bleak for New Zealand. However, Chapman and James Neesham came together to form an unbeaten 121-run partnership that turned the match on its head. Neesham contributed 45 runs off 25 balls, including four fours and two sixes, as New Zea✃land completed the run chase with four balls to spare.
Imad Wasim was the standout bowler for Pak🌳🌞istan, taking 2/21.
Earlier, New Zealand won the toss and chose to field first. Wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan played an outstanding innings of 98 not out in 62 balls, including seven fours and four sixes. Iftikhar Ahmed and Imad Wasim made useful contributions of 36 runs off 22 balls and 31 runs off 15 balls, respectively, to take Pakistan’s total to 193/5 in 20 overs. Blair Tickner was the most successful bowler for New Zealand, taking three wickets for 33 runs in four overs, while Ish Sodhi took one wicket for 21 runs.
Here’s how Twitter reacted:
Woken up to this… 🚀👏 What a good ‘chappie!!’ 😬 Mark Chapman T20
Century to counter 98 not out! Wh🍷at a match! 😲 🤸🏽 not bad either… put on over a hundie with MC 👏🅰👏— Danny Morrison (@SteelyDan66)
Maiden T20I 💯 for Mark Chapman. An extraordinary match-winning effort from the left-handed batter ꧑👏 |
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB)
Mark Chapman in the T20 series vs Pakistan:
– 34(27)
– 65*(40)
– 16*(9)
– 71*(42)
– 104*(57)The hero of Kiwis – Chapman is the hero of the series. What a sensational performance.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns)
An Extraordinary 💯 Mark Chapman
— Kamran Akmal (@KamiAkmal23)
54 balls 100 for Mark Chapman
— Nawaz 🇵🇰 (@Rnawaz31888)
Hong Kong-born Mark Chapman hits a match-winning ꩵcentury for 𝓀New Zealand in Rawalpindi:
— betvisa69.com (@CricketTimesHQ)
Th♋e moment Mark Chapman scored his ma🍷iden T20I century 😍 🏏
— Sky Sport NZ (@skysportnz)
Hong-Kong 🇭🇰 born Mark Chapman pla🌱yed a blinder and stunned us all. 2-2
— Yasir Arafat (@YasArafat12)
named player of the match Award of his brilliant 104*(57) run.
He also top scorer 220 run in the series..What a Come back of kiwis in the series 🐻bcz they lost first two matches.
Series is level 2 – 2.
One match abounded bcz of rain.— Surinder (@navsurani)
A brilliant innings from Mark Chapman helps New Zeal𓆉and꧟ to draw the T20I series 2-2!
— Islamabad United (@IsbUnited)
//twitter.com/Z♔AbbasOꦇfficial/status/16505817043258941445
