New Zealand vs Pakistan: Sunlight interrupts play at McLean Park in 3rd T20I

New Zealand and Pakistan are currently involved in the third and final T20I of the three-match series at the McLean Park in Napier. The visitors won the toss again and opted to bowl first. They did well to pick up three top wickets of the home team and for the first time, New Zealand were under pressure. But their momentum was halted in the 12th over of the innings due to sunlight problem.

This is not the first time that an international game has been stopped at the McLean Park due to the setting sun. Last year during an ODI between New Zealand and India, play was stopped for 30 minutes for the same reason while a T20I between the Kiwis and Bangladesh was also stopped due to sunlight back in 2017.

This is a common problem at the domestic level at the McLean Park in Napier as the matches in Super Smash are interrupted on a regular basis. This is because of the playing surface at the venue facing East-West while usually grounds have it facing North-South.

As far as the match between New Zealand and Pakistan is concerned, the play resumed only after five minutes and there wasn’t a longer delay. Hence, there was no reduction in overs as well.

#NZvPAK https://t.co/ntzTJwx2Rl pic.twitter.com/vJrMcJU6ff

— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) December 22, 2020

Pakistan fare decently with the ball

Meanwhile, after losing the first two T20Is, Pakistan have given a better account of themselves with the ball. They dismissed the likes of Kane Williamson, Tim Seifert and Martin Guptill to put the Kiwis under the pressure. Pakistan batsmen will now have to put up a better show and gain confidence ahead of the Test series.

The visitors are already set to miss their skipper and talismanic batsman Babar Azam for the first Test. He injured his right thumb during the practice session and also missed the T20I series. Mohammad Rizwan is set to become a new captain of Pakistan and they will be hoping for other batsmen to step up on the tour now.