Pakistan beat New Zealand to clinch tri-series

Pakistan beat New Zealand by five wickets in the final of a tri-series in Christchurch on Friday, giving themselves a timely boost ahead of the upcoming Twenty20 World Cup in Australia.

Chasing 164 against the runners-up of last year's World Cup, Pakistan's middle order came good to secure victory with three balls to spare and clinch the tri-series which also included Bangladesh.

Put into bat, New Zealand lost both their openers in the first six powerplay overs but skipper Kane Williamson produced a crafty 59 to lay the foundation for a big total.

Pakistan, however, bowled brilliantly in the back end of the New Zealand innings, conceding only 33 runs in the last five overs to restrict the hosts to 163-7.

The tourists lost skipper Babar Azam (15) in the powerplay and Mohammad Rizwan, currently the top-ranked T20 batter, was looking dangerous when Ish Sodhi trapped him lbw.

Pakistan had gone into the tri-series with questions around their middle order but would breathe easy after Friday's victory.

Opener Rizwan made 34 but it was the middle order trio of Mohammad Nawaz, Haider Ali and Iftikhar Ahmed who helped them accomplish the chase.

Haider blasted 31 off 15 balls while Nawaz (38) and Iftikhar (25) chipped in with unbeaten cameos to ease concerns about their form heading into the World Cup.

"The way the middle order played was outstanding. Haider and Nawaz are outstanding, we needed to step up and perform," Babar said afterwards.

New Zealand counterpart Williamson said they tried their best to defend a "competitive" total but Pakistan's middle order made the difference.

"Credit for the way Pakistan middle order came out and changed momentum, because it wasn't easy for guys coming in to try and get the rhythm of the surface," Williamson said.