Dubai (Agencies): Pakistan and New Zealand shared their one-day international cricket series 1-1 after the third and final game was washed out with the touring side 35-1 chasing their hosts’ 279-8 in the decider on Sunday.
Rain stopped play in the seventh over and didn’t let up as the umpires called play off around 7am (NZT).
Pakistan set a 280-run target for Kiwis by batting first against New Zealand in Dubai.
A well-crafted 92 from Babar Azam and half-centuries from Fakhar Zaman and Haris Sohail guided Pakistan to 279-8 in the match, which has been stopped due to rain.
The series is level at 1-1 after Pakistan beat New Zealand by six wickets in the second ODI. Shaheen Shah Afridi took four wickets and Zaman scored 88 runs guided the Green Shirts to the victory stand.
New Zealand are without their skipper Kane Williamson who pulled out with a groin injury with Tom Latham leading the side.
Pakistan left out Imam-ul-Haq on precautionary grounds after he suffered a blow on his helmet in the second match on Friday but his scans were clear.
New Zealand took the lead by winning the opening game by 43 runs thanks to an 80-run knock by Ross Taylor and a hat trick by Trent Boult.
With the win Pakistan broke a four-year losing streak of 12 consecutive ODIs against the Black Caps, starting with a 3-2 defeat in the UAE in 2014.
New Zealand had also beaten Pakistan 2-0 (in New Zealand 2015), 2-0 (in New Zealand in 2016), 5-0 (in New Zealand in January this year) and in the first match of the current series by 47 runs in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
Playing XI
Pakistan: Sarfraz Ahmed (c & wk), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Haris Sohail, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi.
New Zealand: George Worker, Colin Munro, Henry Nicholls, Ross Taylor, Tom Latham (c & wk), BJ Watling, Colin de Grandhomme, Ish Sodhi, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult
