Once upon a time, Pakistan and Sharjah were synonymous. Back in the 90s and early 2000s, Pakistan, backed by huge crowd support, dominated their opponents while playing at Sharjah. On Tuesday, with almost three-fourth of the turnout at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium rooting for them, it seemed like Pakistan had turned the clock back.

They kept calm even during tough periods and overcame a resilient New Zealand by five wickets with eight balls remaining, registering their second straight victory in the ongoing T20 World Cup.

There wasn’t any movement off the pitch on the sluggish Sharjah wicket, yet the Pakistan bowlers were spot-on again in terms of line and length, restricting the Black Caps to a modest 134/8 after opting to bowl first.

If it was Shaheen Afridi who shone in their tournament opener versus arch-rivals India, Pakistan had right-arm quick Haris Rauf (4/22) delivering for them in this Group II game, varying his pace wonderfully well to ruffle the New Zealand batsmen.

As for Shaheen, he struck only once in this game, but did well enough to concede only 21 off his four overs. Spinners Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan and veteran Mohammad Hafeez complemented the good job by the pacers as New Zealand could never really get the push they looked for in their innings.

Hasan Ali was a tad expensive again, but his direct throw that ran rival captain Kane Williamson out was no less important a contribution.

In reply, Mohammad Rizwan (33) and Babar Azam (9) could not give Pakistan the dream start that they had given against India. It was Tim Southee who castled the Pakistan captain in the sixth over.

The going wasn’t easy for Pakistan thereafter, particularly with spinners Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner bowling an impeccable length. At 87/5 in the 15th over, and with most of the established batsmen dismissed, the equation got harder for them.

But little could New Zealand fathom that Asif Ali (27 not out), coming in at No.7, would take the game away from them in a matter of two balls. Asif smashed Southee for back-to-back sixes in the 17th over. Unfazed even after being hit on the helmet by Southee, and with the experienced Shoaib Malik (26 not out) at the other end, Asif ensured Pakistan reached home safely.

Pakistan had wanted to give New Zealand a befitting reply on the field after the Black Caps had abandoned a recent tour. So it’s mission accomplished for Babar and his men.

Pakistan skipper Babar, at the post-match presentation ceremony, praised his bowlers.

“It’s always good to win, we’ll take this confidence forward in the tournament. The way the bowlers, Shaheen and Haris especially, bowled was very impressive. I think we gave them 10 runs too many, but it’s cricket and that can happen. We lost wickets early, but I want to give credit to Shoaib Malik and Asif Ali. Every game is crucial. We want to take it game by game and do well in all departments,” Babar said.

Man of the Match Rauf admitted that crowd support egged them on.