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WELLINGTON: New Zealand batting great Kane Williamson announced his retirement from Twenty20 internationals on Sunday, saying the team needed “clarity” ahead of next year’s World Cup.

Williamson will depart the shortest format as his country’s second-highest run-scorer, tallying 2,575 runs from 93 matches, including 18 half-centuries, at an average of 33.4.

He captained New Zealand to the final of the 2021 T20 World Cup — where he scored 85 in a losing cause against Australia — and to semifinal appearances in 2016 and 2022.

Williamson relinquished the captaincy in both white ball formats when signing a “casual” contract with NZ Cricket, allowing him to pick and choose his availability.

Last week the 35-year-old confirmed he would be cutting back on his international commitments to focus more time on his young family and playing in professional white ball leagues.

“It’s the right time for myself and the team. It gives the team clarity for the series moving forward and ahead of their next major focus which is the T20 World Cup,” Williamson said in a statement.

“There’s so much T20 talent there and the next period will be important to get cricket into these guys and get them ready for the World Cup.”

Williamson will miss the home T20 series against the West Indies starting on Wednesday and has also made himself unavailable for the subsequent ODI series.

However, he will be available for three Tests against the tourists in December, where he will look to add to his New Zealand-record 9276 runs in the longest format.

New Zealand Cricket chief executive Scott Weenink said Williamson had earned the right to determine how he plays out the rest of his international career.

“We’ve made it clear to Kane he has our full support as he reaches the back end of his illustrious career,” Weenink said.

“We would, of course, love to see him play for as long as possible, but there’s no doubt whenever he does decide to finally call time, he will go down as a legend of New Zealand cricket.”

Babar Azam scored a superb 68 from 47 deliveries to take Pakistan to victory over South Africa by four wickets in their third and final Twenty20 International in Lahore on Saturday and clinch the series 2-1.

Pakistan elected to bowl first and restricted the visitors to 139 for nine in their 20 overs, before chasing down their victory total with six deliveries remaining.

Babar had looked out of touch in the first two games in the series on his return to the Pakistan T20 side for the first time this year, but conjured up a match-winning effort on a tricky surface that was providing assistance to the seamers.

He put on 76 for the third wicket with captain Salman Agha (33 from 26 balls) that set up the victory for the home side.

“This innings was due,” Babar said at the post-match presentation. “I backed myself and the team believed in me. I was hoping for such a knock.

“There is pressure in everything. It is about how you absorb it and I wanted to do what the team needed, play according to the situation.

“We wanted to take it deep and build partnerships and it worked for the team.

Several South African batters made starts in their innings but wickets fell at regular intervals.

Reeza Hendricks top-scored with 34 and Corbin Bosch (30 not out) and captain Donovan Ferreira (29) were the others with modest contributions.

Pakistan seamer Shaheen Shah Afridi did early damage with two wickets in the opening over to put the visitors on the back foot and finished with figures of 3-26.

The two teams begin a three-match One-Day International series in Faisalabad on Tuesday.

“We didn’t perform with the bat once again,” Ferreira said. “The bowlers did well to fight until the end but there were not enough runs on the board.”