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<p id="2">Azam rode his luck in reaching 79 off 53 balls as his team took command of the series following their opening 21-run win over Bangladesh on Friday. All three sides are using the weeklong tournament at Hagley Oval to prepare for the T20 World Cup in Australia.</p>
<p id="3">New Zealand&rsquo;s 147-8 after winning the toss looked inadequate and Azam&rsquo;s knock took away any prospect of victory, steering the tourists to 149-4 with 10 balls to spare. The hosts paid a heavy price for a straightforward dropped catch by Glenn Phillips at point off Tim Southee&rsquo;s bowling when Azam was on 27.</p>
<p>The opener went on to post his 28th T20I half-century, the equal second most alongside Rohit Sharma, with both sitting behind Virat Kohli (33). Southee snared the early wicket of Mohammad Rizwan, who scored a match-winning unbeaten 78 against Bangladesh, and the Pakistan middle-order largely struggled aside from Shadab Khan&rsquo;s 34 off 22 balls.</p>
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<p>However, Azam&rsquo;s presence meant his team were always in control. The result was virtually sealed when he and Haider Ali took 21 runs off the final over of Blair Tickner (2-42), the third-last of the innings. Azam said the rapid 61-run stand with Shadab for the third wicket gave an in-sight to a tactic they could employ at the World Cup, with the allrounder shifted up the order.</p>
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<p id="2">&ldquo;Definitely, we have a plan to send Shadab up to charge the bowlers, to utilise his skills,&rdquo; Azam said. &ldquo;He played very well. We planned that I would go all the way and Shadab would take a chance.&rdquo;</p>
<p id="3">Earlier, it took late blows from middle-order batsman Mark Chapman to revive a muddled New Zealand effort with the bat. Chapman&rsquo;s 32 off 16 balls followed solid innings from opener Devon Conway (36 off 35) and captain Kane Williamson (31 off 30), although both struggled for timing during a 61-run stand for the second wicket.</p>
<p id="4">It was another frustrating outcome for the accomplished Williamson, who has passed 50 on just two occasions in all formats over the last 18 months, a period that has encompassed 29 innings. He was clean bowled attempting a slog-sweep off spinner Mohammad Nawaz, while Chapman holed out to a slower ball from Pakistan&rsquo;s best bowler, paceman Haris Rauf (3-28).</p>
<p><strong>Scores:&nbsp;</strong>Pakistan 149/4 (Babar 79*, Shadab 34, Tickner 2-42) beat New Zealand 147/8 (Conway 36, Rauf 3-28, Wasim 2-20, Nawaz 2-44) by six wickets.&nbsp;</p>
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Babar brilliance steers Pak to win over Kiwis

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