New Zealand defeated Pakistan in the fifth and final T20 match and won the series 1-4.

In the match played in Wellington, the national team could score 128 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in the stipulated 20 overs. The openers failed to give Pakistan an aggressive start. Hassan Nawaz was once again dismissed for zero while Mohammad Haris was dismissed for 11 runs.

Among other players, Umair Bin Yousuf and Mohammad Usman went to the pavilion on 7, 7, Abdul Samad 4, Jahandad Khan 1, Sufyan Muqeem on zero while Shadab Khan played an innings of 28 and captain Salman Agha played an innings of 51 runs. Apart from them, no batsman was able to show a significant performance.

For New Zealand, Jimmy Neesham took 5, Jacob Duffy took 2 while Ben Sears and Ish Sodhi took one wicket each.

Thanks to the aggressive batting of the openers, New Zealand achieved the target in the 10th over for the loss of just 2 wickets. The openers put on a 93-run partnership for the first wicket, but Finn Allen was dismissed for 27 runs. Later, Mark Chapman also proved to be a guest for 3 runs.

The hero of the match, Tim Seifert, played an innings of 93 runs, which included 10 sixes and 4 fours.

Sufyan Muqim took 2 wickets for Pakistan.

Earlier, Kiwi team captain Michael Bracewell won the toss and decided to field first. He said that he wanted to end the series with a victory in the match.

On this occasion, national team captain Salman Agha said that 2 changes have been made in the team, Mohammad Ali has been made part of the playing eleven in place of Shaheen Afridi and Sufyan Muqim has been made part of the playing eleven in place of Abrar Ahmed.

He said that they will try to win the match and then win the ODI series.

Pakistan squad:

Captain Salman Agha, Mohammad Haris, Hassan Nawaz, Umair Bin Yousuf, Usman Khan, Shadab Khan, Abdul Samad, Jehandad Khan, Haris Rauf, Sufyan Muqim and Mohammad Ali

New Zealand squad:

Captain Michael Bracewell, Tim Seifert, Finn Allen, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Hay, Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy, Ben Sears and Will Overke

National team opener Imam-ul-Haq has attributed his exclusion from the Champions Trophy to a dispute over the “captaincy” in the national team.

Indian media has revealed in its reports that while talking to Ultra Age in a podcast, the host asked opener Imam-ul-Haq who is the captain of the team?

To which Imam-ul-Haq laughed, he said that there is a dispute going on in the team over the captaincy, everyone is fighting with each other.

Later, Imam-ul-Haq chose Muhammad Rizwan as the leader, he said that he arranges hotels for the team and gathers all the players for prayers, for this he has even created a WhatsApp group.

Earlier, news had come out that before the Champions Trophy, not everything was fine between Muhammad Rizwan and head coach Aqib Javed, both of them made strategies contrary to each other’s decisions.

Sources told the Express that Mohammad Rizwan was unhappy about not being consulted on important decisions for the Champions Trophy squad. He included Khushdil Shah, but Aqib Javed chose Faheem Ashraf of his own free will.

The selectors and Mohammad Rizwan were also not on the same page before the start of the event.

Before the event, PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi asked for a review of the squad twice, but his advice was ignored. The chairman did not consider it appropriate to make changes on his own using his powers.

On the other hand, Aqib Javed does not intend to resign on his own, the board had entrusted him with the responsibility on an interim basis, now he will not remain in the position of head coach.

PCB officials are also very concerned about the form of Babar Azam, who has not been able to perform exceptionally well for a year. Aqib Javed and other selectors are still adamant on their decisions that they have selected the best available players, but the facts are completely opposite.

It should be noted that the national team lost the match against New Zealand at home and then against arch-rivals India in Dubai after a one-sided match, which left cricket fans in a state of shock.

Pakistan’s players have suffered a major setback in the latest ICC rankings after their disappointing performance in the Champions Trophy 2025.

Several key players have seen significant declines in their rankings. Opener Fakhar Zaman has dropped three places to 17th with 621 points.

Pakistan’s white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan, who scored just 3 runs against New Zealand and 46 against India, has slipped from 16th to 20th place and now has 616 points.

Imam-ul-Haq, who scored just 10 runs in his comeback match against India, remains at 32nd place with 582 points.

Opener Saim Ayub, who is out of action after an injury in the Test series against South Africa, has dropped eight places to 35th with 572 points.

Vice-captain Salman Ali Agha is at 46th place with 544 points. He scored 42 against New Zealand and 19 against India.

Virat Kohli returns to top five

India’s star batsman Virat Kohli has moved up one place to fifth after scoring his 51st century against Pakistan in Dubai.

India’s grip on the batting rankings remains strong, with Shubman Gill at the top and Rohit Sharma at the third position. Former Pakistan captain Babar Azam is in second position.

Other notable players include New Zealand’s Will Young (up eight places to 14th), England’s Ben Duckett (up 27 places to 17th) and Rachan Ravindra (up 18 places to 24th).

Pakistani bowlers also drop in bowling rankings

Pakistan fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi, who failed to impress in the Champions Trophy, has dropped five places to ninth from fourth with 619 points.

Right-arm fast bowler Haris Rauf has dropped six places to 22nd with 553 points. On the other hand, Naseem Shah has moved up two places to 42nd with 491 points.

Leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed has moved up 26 places to 49th.

Performance of other bowlers

Sri Lankan spinner Mahesh Thekshana, who is not participating in the Champions Trophy, remains the number one bowler, while Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan remains in second place.

South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj has moved up one place to fourth, New Zealand’s Matt Henry has moved up two places to sixth and Australia’s Adam Zampa has moved up two places to 10th.

South African pacer Kagiso Rabada has moved up four places to 16th, while New Zealand’s Michael Bracewell has moved up 31 places to 26th.

Players participating in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) are facing delays in payment of their salaries.

According to the report, the franchise owners have not yet paid the first installment to the players participating in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).

According to the rules, half of the fixed salary has to be paid before the start of the league.

Reacting to the issue, the Bangladesh Cricket Board president assured that the salary will be paid soon.

The 7-team BPL has started from December 30.

After rumors of differences and altercations between the captain and the coach in the Indian team, big news has finally come out regarding the Sydney Test.

According to the Indian, the team’s coach Gautam Gambhir has dropped captain Rohit Sharma from the Test team for the next match with Australia due to his continuous poor performance.

Indian media claims that it has been decided to give Rohit Sharma a chance to rest for the next Test match.

According to the Times of India, Jasprit Bumrah will lead the Test match to be held on Friday in place of Rohit Sharma, while the participation of KL Rahul and Jaiswal in the team is also doubtful.

Fast bowler Akash Deep will also not join the team due to injury. One Prasad Krishna is likely to make his debut in the team for the Sydney Test.

However, the cricket board or the team management have not yet issued any statement regarding the announcement of the Indian captain and team for the final Test match against Australia starting tomorrow.

Yesterday, when coach Gautam Gambhir was asked about Rohit Sharma’s absence from the press conference and his inclusion in the team in the next match, he avoided answering.

Rohit Sharma could not play the first Test match due to the birth of his child. The captain joined the team from the second Test match.

However, after the defeat in two Test matches and then the differences with the management over the issue of dropping Shubman Gill and the change in the batting order, things continued to deteriorate.

After which, the pressure on Rohit Sharma to retire from Test cricket was also increasing.

It should be remembered that Australia has a two-to-one lead in the 5-Test series, while tomorrow is the last chance for India to avoid the defeat of losing the series in the last Test.