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New Zealand clinched a thrilling last ball victory against Pakistan to get their campaign back on track as Pakistan's semi-final hopes suffered a huge setback. The match was evenly contested throughout with each team coming back strongly each time the other looked to be getting ahead. In the end though it was the Kiwis who held on to their nerves and came out on top by just a solitary run. Salman Butt carried his bat through the Pakistan innings, but his 67 off 54 balls was not enough to secure victory on the day.

Both teams came into the match knowing that a defeat for either will deal a severe blow to their semi-final chances. Shahid Afridi went into the match with rookie left-armer Abdur Rehman and Mohammad Sami ahead of Mohammad Asif and Fawad Alam. He won the toss and put New Zealand in, who themselves had a couple of changes in their quick bowling personnel with Kyle Mills and Ian Butler coming in for Jacob Oram and Tim Southee. It turned out to be a good decision by both team managements, with the four aforementioned bowlers topping the wicket taking charts for their respective sides.

The Kiwis started off well with Brendan McCullum taking control of the innings right from the word go. Just when the opening partnership was starting to look dangerous, Mohammad Sami, who had conceded 13 runs in his first over broke through when he had the in-form Jesse Ryder caught at deep square-leg for 7. McCllum was unaffected by his partner's diamissal and he kept on getting boundaries at regular intervals. Martin Guptill, in at number 3, struggled against the spin duo of Mohammad Hafeez and Abdur Rehman. Having played 9 deliveries for just 2 runs, the pressure was building and he finally went down the track for a release shot off Rehman but the shot lacked timing and Umar Akmal completed a good low catch running in from long-on.

McCullum meanwhile had moved on to 33 off 28 balls when he ended up top-edging a sweep straight to Sami at deep square-leg. And Sami was in action again as he got Ross Taylor (3) caught behind the very next over. The veteran Scott Styris came in to join Daniel Vettori, who had promoted himself to number 5 with the team reeling at 58 for 4 off 9.2 overs. The two of them stitched together a nice partnership picking up the ones and twos with Vettori getting the occasional boundary. Styris (21) hit Afridi for a four and a six off consecutive deliveries but then played one on a couple of balls later to give Afridi his first wicket of the match. And the Pakistan skipper didn't have to wait long for his second as Hopkins (2) mis-hit one straight to mid-wicket.

Vettori seemed to running out of partners at the other end. The big shots were missing in the death overs and Vettori finally ran himself out on the penultimate ball of the innings for 38. Nathan McCullum, however, ended the innings on a high with a big hit over deep mid-wicket on the final ball on the innings. Afridi had said at the toss that he would be happy with a total around 130. And his bowlers responded brilliantly to keep New Zealand down to 133. It was now up to the batsmen to knock off the runs.

New Zealand needed early wickets to come back into the game and that's exactly what happened. Kyle Mills marked his return to the team with the wickets of the Akmal brothers, Kamran (5) and Umar (0) while Bond picked up Hafeez for 8 all within the first four overs. Salman Butt continued his good run and got the occasional boundaries in the powerplay. Ian Butler, also playing his first match of the tournament bowled a maiden first up and then had Misbah-ul Haq (3) plumb in front. And Butler was not done yet. He got the big wicket of Afridi for 11 to give New Zealand the upperhand.

Abdul Razzaq joined Butt out in the middle with Pakistan in trouble at 58 for 5. Vettori saw the opportunity to get through some quick overs and got himself and Nathan McCullum on. But he kept himself on for an over too many as Razzaq finally decided to break free. Two massive sixes and a boundary brought the asking rate down from 9.33 to 8 runs an over. Razzaq was in no mood to hold back even when the pacers came back as he smashed Shane Bond out of the ground. But he finally mis-timed a lofted shot amd holed out at long-on off Nathan McCullum for 29.

When Razzaq departed, Pakistan still needed 23 off 13 balls. Butt got to his half-century in 45 balls and Pakistan's hopes rested on him to take the team through. A six and 5 singles off the 19th over meant that Pakistan needed 11 runs in the last over. Butler, the best bowler for the Kiwis on the day was given the job of restricting Butt and co. A dot ball to Butt was followed by a boundary. Then this exact sequence repeated itself and the target was down to 3 of 2 balls. The non-striker Abdur Rehman decided to run a bye when Butt missed a yorker and just managed to get home in time. With 2 runs needed for victory and 1 for a tie off the final ball, Butler aimed it at Rehman's pads who made a good connection but unfortunately for him and Pakistan, it went straight down Martin Guptill's throat at deep square leg, who accepted the catch gleefully to virtually knock Pakistan out of the tournament.

Ian Butler was awarded the man-of-the match for his efforts. This victory for New Zealand means that if they win their final Group E match against England they'll be in serious contention for the semi-finals. They have the momentum needed going into the final match and will definitely fancy their chances.

Pakistan meanwhile not only have to win against South Africa, but they also have to hope that both South Africa and New Zealand lose their matches against England and then too it will be down to net run-rate to see who goes through. Their senior players have not been up to the mark and no one other than Butt has fired with the bat. If the batsmen don't come good in their final game on Monday, it will be curtains for Pakistan.

Mini Scorecard

New Zealand 133/7 (20 overs, 6.65 rpo)
D Vettori 38 (34)             A Rehman 2-19
B McCullum 33 (29)       M Sami 2-25

Pakistan 132/7 (20 overs, 6.6 rpo)
S Butt 67* (54)             I Butler 3-19
A Razzaq 29 (29)         K Mills 2-33

Also Read: India vs. West Indies Match Preview

File Photograph Copyright: ICC World T20

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