Opener Finn Allen raced to a half-century as New Zealand scored an imposing 220-6 on Sunday in the fourth Twenty20 against Pakistan in Mount Maunganui.
The tourists will chase a target of 221 at Bay Oval to level the five-match series 2-2.
Allen led the way with the bat, smashing 50 off just 20 balls, having put on 59 for the opening stand with Tim Seifert, whose 44 took 22 deliveries.
Seifert was the first of three batsmen dismissed by seamer Haris Rauf, who claimed 3-27.
Rauf helped apply the brakes in the second half of New Zealand’s innings.
With Allen hitting six fours and three sixes, the home side raced to 134 off their first 10 overs but slowed somewhat over the second half, scoring another 86 runs.
Captain Michael Bracewell’s big-hitting added late impetus, posting 46 not out off 26 balls.
Pakistan will hope the pattern of the series continues, with the chasing team having won each of the first three games comfortably.
New Zealand made two changes from the team that lost the third match in Auckland on Friday by nine wickets, introducing Zak Foulkes and Will O’Rourke for fellow seamers Kyle Jamieson and Ben Sears.
Pakistan named an unchanged side, including opener Hasan Nawaz, whose maiden century fuelled their victory at Eden Park.
The average first-innings score at Mount Maunganui’s Bay Oval since 2020 is 176 which suggests that Sunday’s game may not produce the fireworks that featured the outing in Auckland. Though it may remain slightly cloudy, no weather interruption is expected in the fourth game.
New Zealand: Tim Seifert, Finn Allen, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Mitchell Hay, Michael Bracewell (capt), Ish Sodhi, Zak Foulkes, Jacob Duffy, Will O’Rourke
Pakistan: Mohammad Haris, Hasan Nawaz, Salman Agha (capt), Irfan Khan, Shadab Khan, Abdul Samad, Khushdil Shah, Abbas Afridi, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed
Umpires: Chris Brown (NZL), Wayne Knights (NZL)
TV umpire: Kim Cotton (NZL)
Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL)
