"Again best bowling attack in cricket in total mess" - Twitter trolls Pakistan for defeat against New Zealand in 5th T20I

Pakistan failed to defend a mammoth total of 193 in the fifth and final T20I at Rawalpindi against New Zealand, which resulted in the series ending in a 2-2 deadlock.

Pakistan won the first two games of the series convincingly, by 88 and 38 runs at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. However, New Zealand won the third T20I by four runs and in the fourth match were well-placed at 164-5 in 18.5 overs when a hailstorm forced it to be abandoned.

In the final T20I, the Kiwis won the toss and elected to field first on a placid-looking Rawalpindi track. The hosts, led by wicket-keeper batsman Mohammad Rizwan's unbeaten 98 off just 62 deliveries, posted an impressive 193-5 in their 20 overs. Rizwan was ably supported by Iftikhar Ahmed and Imad Wasim, both of whom played important cameos.

In reply, the Blackcaps stuttered to 73-4 in 9.5 overs as the Pakistani bowlers came out all guns blazing. But much to the dismay of the home fans, Mark Chapman and James Neesham put on an unbeaten partnership of 121 from 57 deliveries to take the visitors to a six-wicket win. Chapman made a sensational unbeaten 104 off 57 deliveries with 11 fours and four sixes.

The Pakistan bowlers' inability to finish the game from a strong position against a depleted New Zealand team drew plenty of flak from fans on Twitter.

Here are some of the best reactions:

Before this series, Pakistan had lost a three-match T20I series against Afghanistan in the UAE.

Mark Chapman was both the player of the match and the player of the series. He finished with 290 runs at a strike rate of 165.71 while being dismissed just once.

"We were 15 runs short in the end" - Pakistan captain Babar Azam

Skipper Babar Azam felt that despite scoring 193, his team was a few runs short. Azam highlighted Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed's partnership in the middle and claimed that the team could have got to a 200-plus total.

"The way we started, we wanted to get to 190," he said at the post-match presentation. "The way Rizwan-Iftikhar batted we thought, they could get us to 200 plus. We were 15 runs short in the end. Iftikhar, the way he batted and dominated has been good. He has performed in tough situations. Imad did well with the bat."

Mark Chapman was the leading run-scorer in the series with 290 runs, while Haris Rauf picked up 11 wickets to finish as the leading wicket-taker.

The two teams will next lock horns in a five-match ODI series starting in Rawalpindi on Thursday, April 27.