New Zealand vs Pakistan, 5th T20I at Christchurch, NZ v PAK, Jan 21 2024 - Match Result

Mitchell Santner, New Zealand Captain: The pitch slowed down a lot and we were pretty happy with the score. We just got outplayed in the second innings. The power play was very important on a slow wicket. We talk about trying to take it deep but it's good learning

Iftikhar Ahmed, Player of the Match: I read the wicket and bowled accordingly, wicket was turning so I tried to bowl wicket by wicket. Yes it was decided that I will bowl today, Shaheen told me before the game and I was preparing for it. If captain wants, I am available to bowl as I have performed previously and will continue the same way.

Shaheen Afridi, Pakistan Captain: Ifti (Iftikhar) is a very experienced player and he's always ready for the bowling but we wanted to give everyone a proper chance so we were planning to give chances to youngsters this series, we sorted out 16-20 players (for the World Cup). I want to thank everyone, the crowd was fantastic.

Finn Allen, Player of the series: I've been trying to be a bit more consistent and assess the conditions quicker

It was Pakistan's day, finally something to cheer about for the team and Pakistan fans alike. Shaheen Afridi wins his first game as captain. It was a power-packed performance and a convincing win in the last T20I of the five match series that ends on 4-1. The bowling delivered as a unit today and Nawaz was tight in the powerplay - smart move to introduce spin early on - that helped them built the pressure.

Economical stuff from all of the bowlers and once Pakistan triggered a wobble at the top, New Zealand had little resistance to offer. Earlier, that crucial partnership between Mohammad Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman - where he played the role of the aggressor - helped Pakistan scrap their way to a fighting total. Babar Azam didn't come out to field today. He had issues with his hamstring in the last game and looked off-colour today.

Pakistan enjoyed bowling in conditions that had plenty of assistance for the spinners, and the decision to bring on Iftikhar Ahmed paid rich dividends. It was baffling how he didn't bowl at all in the previous games, as Shaheen Afridi said they wanted to try newcomers, and the aim was to get the combination right. I'll leave that for you to make sense of because I, for one, cannot fathom a lack of concern about winning contests, even though it's a World Cup preparation series but winning is important too.

New Zealand bossed the series for four games and dropped their in-form batter Daryl Mitchell for this one. Kane Williamson missed the last three games due to hamstring strain, and despite the shuffling, New Zealand were fiercely competitive, showing their strong bench strength throughout the series. Today, they didn't look comfortable against spin, in particular, and just went into a shell as the asking rate crept up.

Pakistan finally breaks the hoodoo after a 3-0 defeat, albeit in a highly engrossing Test series in Australia, and four losses on the trot in New Zealand. New Zealand will now turn their attention toward the Test series against South Africa, while Pakistan players will get ready for the ninth edition of the Pakistan Super League, which will kick off on 17th February. We hope you will join us for more cricket coverage!

Thank you for your company throughout the series. Until we meet again, it is goodbye from me, Rvel Zahid, and the entire team at ESPNcricinfo

Pakistan's 134/8 is the lowest 20-over total any team successfully defended in men's T20Is in New Zealand. Previous lowest was 156/6 by Australia in 2021

Also, it's only the second instance of New Zealand getting bowled under 100 in men's T20Is at home. Other instance was 80/10 in 2010, also against Pakistan in Christchurch (AMI Stadium).

Hamza: "Pakistan seem so much better in the field today. Let's hope this is the start of something."

Sherry : "Iftikhar won the match single handedly for Pakistan.Gotta appreciate Shaheen for good captaincy and bowling changes.I hope this would be a lesson for Shaheen that Iftikhar can be a very handy bowler and he would have rued his decision of not letting him bowl in the previous matches."

Aby Mathew: "Finally a morale boosting win for pak after the barren run in aus and nz."

Memon: "I think dropping Haris Rauf was the best decision for this match. He was the one conceding way too many runs and wasting the efforts of the other bowlers. "

Luqman : "Hey, a cricket novice here. I'm really curious about what's different today. Is it because the ground has changed? Or is New Zealand not playing at full strength? Or is Pakistan genuinely performing better?" Good bowling changes and Iftikhar made the difference too

Imran Khan: "Thank you Rvel for not publishing my earlier comment when I questioned Iftikhar presence in the team :p" He silenced all his critics, eh?