Chapman scores a sensational tonne to tie the T20I series against New Zealand.

As New Zealand stormed back in the game and series to split the T20I victories with Pakistan, Mark Chapman hit a 57-ball 104*. When they were reduced to 73/4 at the halfway point of New Zealand's response to 193 in the fifth T20I at Rawalpindi, the visitors appeared to be out of the match. The chase was reduced to a run-a-ball contest in the final two overs thanks to an undefeated whirlwind century stand between Chapman and James Neesham (45* off 25), who joined forces with him. In the end, they finished it off with six wickets remaining and four balls remaining.
 

Pakistan began strongly with the ball after Mohammad Rizwan's 98 had propelled them to a good score as they looked to finish out the series against a depleted team that was missing as many as eight players due to IPL duty. Imad Wasim performed admirably throughout the PowerPlay once more, and Shaheen Afridi returned to his first-over prowess by removing Will Young and Tom Latham with the first and fifth balls of the chase, respectively. Before Imad forced him to give in to the pressure of the scoreboard and hole out to long on, Daryl Mitchell made a laborious 15 out of 18 shots.
 

In the 15th over, Neesham dismissed Ihsanullah for 18 runs, which lowered the equation to a very manageable 44 off 30 balls. Because of this, New Zealand still had to score 28 runs off the final three overs, which were reasonably quiet at eight runs each in the 16th and 17th overs. The game was then effectively closed by Chapman's three goals through Shaheen's offside. On 98, the left-hander received another reprieve when he mistimed a pull, but running back Shaheen was unable to complete the caught & bowled. It enabled Chapman to take a brief diversion and finish a well-earned hundred.

Rizwan was close to scoring a century earlier in the game, but Pakistan seemed preoccupied with the accomplishment to provide their full weight, which would have been essential. Rizwan faced 13 deliveries in all and hit four sixes, matching Chapman's total, however only one of them was a boundary. At the other end, Imad was out while attempting to get Rizwan on strike by stealing a bye, while Faheem chose to bat only one when two were available off the penultimate delivery. In the end, Rizwan was unable to reach the milestone and finished unbeaten on 98.

It was unfortunate because he had put forth a terrific effort up to the end of his innings, during which Babar Azam struggled to a score of 18 off 19 before becoming the first of three batsmen to be bowled out within the span of four deliveries, dropping Pakistan to 52/3 in the seventh over. When Pakistan was selected to bat first, Iftikhar Ahmed (36 off 22) and Imad (31 off 14) demonstrated excellent technique, but the team's final score was not Chapman-proof.
 

Brief scores: New Zealand defeated Pakistan 193/5 in 20 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 98, Iftikhar Ahmed 36; Blair Tickner 3-33) by six wickets. Mark Chapman scored 104* and James Neesham scored 45*.