On Monday (April 24), New Zealand played Pakistan in the fifth T20I at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. Hong Kong-born Mark Chapman became the unlikely hero of the game as he scored an impressive century to help New Zealand win the match. He smashed 104 runs in 57 balls, with 11 fours and four sixes, to lead his team to a thrilling victory. As a result, New Zealand tied the series at 2-2 and prevented Pakistan from winning the trophy on home turf.
New Zealand faced a daunting target of 194 runs to chase and had a horrible start, losing four early wickets. Captain Tom Latham was dismissed on the first ball of the innings, while Chad Bowes, Will Young and Daryl Mitchell could not make a significant contribution.
At 73/4 after 9.5 overs, the situation looked bleak for New Zealand. However, Chapman and James Neesham came together to form an unbeaten 121-run partnership that turned the match on its head. Neesham contributed 45 runs off 25 balls, including four fours and two sixes, as New Zealand completed the run chase with four balls to spare.
Imad Wasim was the standout bowler for Pakistan, taking 2/21.
Earlier, New Zealand won the toss and chose to field first. Wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan played an outstanding innings of 98 not out in 62 balls, including seven fours and four sixes. Iftikhar Ahmed and Imad Wasim made useful contributions of 36 runs off 22 balls and 31 runs off 15 balls, respectively, to take Pakistan’s total to 193/5 in 20 overs. Blair Tickner was the most successful bowler for New Zealand, taking three wickets for 33 runs in four overs, while Ish Sodhi took one wicket for 21 runs.
Here’s how Twitter reacted:
Woken up to this… 🚀👏 What a good ‘chappie!!’ 😬 Mark Chapman T20
Century to counter @iMRizwanPak 98 not out! What a match! 😲#goodoldPindipitch 🤸🏽 @JimmyNeesh not bad either… put on over a hundie with MC 👏👏 #PAKvNZ pic.twitter.com/FbY0yGCMuI— Danny Morrison (@SteelyDan66) April 25, 2023
Maiden T20I 💯 for Mark Chapman. An extraordinary match-winning effort from the left-handed batter 👏#PAKvNZ | #CricketMubarak pic.twitter.com/4f1qIQVnSg
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) April 24, 2023
Mark Chapman in the T20 series vs Pakistan:
– 34(27)
– 65*(40)
– 16*(9)
– 71*(42)
– 104*(57)The hero of Kiwis – Chapman is the hero of the series. What a sensational performance. pic.twitter.com/wueSIXWvx3
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) April 24, 2023
An Extraordinary 💯 Mark Chapman #NZvPAK
— Kamran Akmal (@KamiAkmal23) April 24, 2023
54 balls 100 for Mark Chapman pic.twitter.com/vIQT7okxBR
— Nawaz 🇵🇰 (@Rnawaz31888) April 24, 2023
Hong Kong-born Mark Chapman hits a match-winning century for New Zealand in Rawalpindi: https://t.co/l8vhAucuT0 #cricket #PAKvNZ #5thT20 #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/xgExIwkU3s
— CricketTimes.com (@CricketTimesHQ) April 25, 2023
The moment Mark Chapman scored his maiden T20I century 😍 🏏 #PAKvNZ #CricketNation pic.twitter.com/3NHL0XYi0u
— Sky Sport NZ (@skysportnz) April 24, 2023
Hong-Kong 🇭🇰 born Mark Chapman played a blinder and stunned us all. 2-2 #PAKvNZ
— Yasir Arafat (@YasArafat12) April 24, 2023
#MarkChapman named player of the match Award of his brilliant 104*(57) run.
He also top scorer 220 run in the series..What a Come back of kiwis in the series bcz they lost first two matches.
Series is level 2 – 2.
One match abounded bcz of rain.#PAKvNZ pic.twitter.com/wVR87E0xCW— Surinder (@navsurani) April 24, 2023
A brilliant innings from Mark Chapman helps New Zealand to draw the T20I series 2-2!#PAKvNZ #UnitedWeWin pic.twitter.com/g6Z3OVEBph
— Islamabad United (@IsbUnited) April 24, 2023
https://twitter.com/ZAbbasOfficial/status/16505817043258941445
