Eleven successive wins across formats for New Zealand. That's a new national record. Given the way the juggernaut has marched, will we see a 5-0 sweep? Or can Pakistan come hard for one final time and end up on the right side of the result? We will find out in due course. For now, this is all we have. Thanks for joining us. We hope you'll all be back for the final ODI on Friday. Goodbye from Alagappan and myself.
Ahmed Hayat: "Other than the abysmal performance by the batsman this series, what Pakistan has truly lacked are real fast bowlers than bowl upwards of 145KP, along with the selection of test batsman over the likes of haris sohail and a genuine all-rounder. Going forward Sarfaraz should ponder over his batting position and try open the batting or atleast come 1 down instead of facing the pressure when 5 wickets are down."
9.05pm Might is right. Colin de Grandhomme swears by that notion. That was some of the most brutal hitting you'll ever see. He walked in with the chips down and Pakistan scenting a victory. He's walking off having ensured his team has cantered to a five-wicket win. Don't forget Henry Nicholls' contribution. He was overshadowed by de Grandhomme's dominance, but he's played a match-winning knock as well. He struggled for fluency for large parts. When de Grandhomme walked in, another wicket at that stage could have truly put Pakistan on top. But Nicholls never gave up and ground it out. By the end of it all, he had made up for enough ground to notch up a half-century of his own. Disappointment again for Pakistan, but they have some positives they can take from this defeat. Not least a high-class display of legspin bowling from Shadab Khan. Their batsmen showed much better game awareness at least for the early parts of their innings and did not let Tim Southee's early strikes stagnate the scoreboard. But at the end of it all, they were probably a good 30-40 runs short.
"I felt like I'd been hitting well in the nets," de Grandhomme says. "Crucial for Henry to be there till the end. Everything seemed to be coming off the middle."
"Pakistan played very well. They soaked up some pressure with the bat early on and posted a comfortable score," says Kane Williamson. "We did not put up the smartest of batting performances until Colin came out. To see him play like that was special. We didn't think the surface took as much turn as we thought it would. A lot of credit goes to the top of the order as well. They got us off to a good start in the chase. And then Colin just came in and finished it off. We were under pressure for large parts of the batting innings, so feels nice to get across the line."
"Very disappointing but a few positives," says Sarfraz. "Fakhar batted well. But we're not finishing well. The way we finished (with the bat), we had lost of confidence, but de Grandhomme played like a great batsman. It was a great innings."
Sarah: "I'm telling myself I wont watch the last match but catch me sleep deprived and cursing on that day too. Cricket is truly like a drug"
zafarjaveds: "CDG played this innings in Highlights mode."
Aashish Calla: "This knock by CDG can easily be put in the "brutal" category; walked in with 109 needed off 15 overs against a quality attack, and has done it at a canter!"
