New Zealand snatch win in dramatic last session

New Zealand took nine wickets in a dramatic final session, sealing a 2-0 series whitewash as Pakistan collapsed against the second new ball to slump to a 138-run defeat. When the final session began, the draw seemed the likeliest result by far, and a New Zealand win perhaps less likely than a Pakistan win. With a minimum of 34 overs left, Pakistan needed 211, with nine wickets in hand. Those nine wickets fell in the space of 24.3 overs, the last six to the second new ball in the space of 11 overs.

On a pitch that offered little help to the bowlers apart from occasionally inconsistent bounce - which became less of a factor as the ball aged - New Zealand gave themselves a chance by playing the waiting game as Pakistan plotted a heist of their own. Pakistan had chased down two 300-plus targets in the last two years, both times against Sri Lanka - 302 in two sessions in Sharjah, and 377 in Pallekele. Here, chasing 369, Azhar Ali and Sami Aslam added 131 for the first wicket in 60 overs to set them a platform for a possibly Sharjah-esque finish.