Mohammad Hafeez age: Watch Pakistani batsman narrowly misses maiden T20I century vs New Zealand

Mohammad Hafeez: The veteran Pakistani batsman continued his dream run in T20Is with another half-century.

During the second T20I of the ongoing Pakistan’s tour of New Zealand in Hamilton, veteran Pakistan batsman Mohammad Hafeez scored an impact-generating 14th T20I half-century to power his team to 163/6 in 20 overs after captain Shadab Khan won the toss and chose to bat.

Coming in to bat at No. 4 in the third over, the 40-year old player scored only three runs in the first nine deliveries that he faced. It was in the first over after the powerplay that Hafeez took the attack against New Zealand pacer Kylie Jamieson hitting him for two consecutive boundaries.

Having hit another set of consecutive fours off Scott Kuggeleijn in the following over, the right-hand batsman provided a much-needed momentum to the Pakistani innings.

Despite Shadab’s (4) departure in the ninth over, Hafeez continually found a boundary each in the next three overs. It was in the 15th over that Hafeez smashed a couple of sixes off Kuggeleijn to bring up his half-century.

Even with minimal support from the other end, Hafeez continued to attack from one end to once again attack Jamieson in the last over. On the last three balls of the innings, Hafeez thwacked two sixes and a four to end up scoring 99* (57) with the help of nine fours and five sixes.

A 164-run chase was sealed by the hosts in the last over on the back of individual half-centuries from wicket-keeper batsman Tim Seifert (84 not out) and captain Kane Williamson (57 not out). It was veteran seamer Tim Southee (4-0-21-4) who was declared the ‘Man of the Match’ at the Seddon Park.

Mohammed Hafeez narrowly misses maiden T20I century vs New Zealand

How Twitterati reacted:

For more cricket-related news, click here.