New Zealand starts the T20I series against Pakistan with an easy win

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The New Zealand Cricket Team proved too strong as they defeated Pakistan easily in the first T20I match played at Eden Park, Auckland on Friday.

Pakistan stand-in captain Shahbad Khan won the toss and decided to bat first. The decision did not pay off as Abdullah Shafique was dismissed by debutant Jacob Duffy caught by mid-on. Mohammad Rizwan showed some intent. The Kiwis bowlers kept tight lines and lengths not allowing the Pakistani batsmen to score runs easily. After being dropped, Duffy got two wickets of Mohammad Rizwan and Mohammad Hafeez in successive balls.

Scott Kuggelin stunned Haider Ali that bounced extra and produced a simple return catch to the bowler leaving Pakistan in tatters at 20 for 4. At the end of the first six overs, Pakistan made 29 for 4.

Ish Sodhi left Pakistan in more trouble as he dismissed Khusdil Shah. Shahbad Khan and Imad Wasim rescued the innings playing with the intent of putting some pressure on Kiwis bowlers. Kuggelin got the breakthrough dismissing Wasim. Imad and Khan added 49 runs for the 6th wicket. Shahbad looked impressive with his stroke play. A sensational catch by Sodhi ended the innings for Khan. Wahab Riaz and Faheem Ashraf took 20 runs off Duffy’s over to gain some momentum.

Kuggelin struck to dismiss Wahab Riaz. Shaheen Shah Afridi hit some lusty blows along with Faheem Ashraf. Ashraf was caught by Martin Guptill at the boundary. At the end of the 20 overs, Pakistan scored 153 for 9. The New Zealand fielding was not up to the mark as they dropped catches but did a great job with the ball to restrict the visitors to a modest total

Chasing 154 runs to win, a brilliant catch by Khan ended the innings for Martin Guptill. Haris Rauf bowled tight lines and lengths not allowing the Kiwis batsmen to score runs easily. Rauf produced a beauty to dismiss Conway with a return catch to the bowler. Tim Seifert and Glenn Phillips looked impressive with their stroke play while Khan decided to rotate the bowlers. At the end of the first six overs, New Zealand made 40 for 2.

Seifert and Philips looked comfortable with his stroke play making life tough for the visitors. Haris Rauf was bought into the attack and got the wicket of Glenn Phillips. Phillips and Seifert added 44 runs for the 3rd wicket.

Mark Chapman joined Tim Seifert and took the attack to Pakistani bowlers. Seifert looked in decent touch and reached his fifty off 35 balls. With things looking easy for Kiwis, Shaheen Shah Afridi got the wicket of well-set Tim Seifert. Seifert and Chapman added 45 runs for the 4th wicket. Haris Rauf struck to get rid of Chapman via review. The umpire gave it out and the decision was retained.

James Neesham and Mitchell Santer did the job for the hosts as they won the match by 5 wickets with 7 balls to spare.

New Zealand 157 for 5 in 18.5 overs (Seifert 57, Chapman 34, Rauf 3/29, Afridi 2/27) beat Pakistan 153 for 9 in 20 overs ( Shahbad Khan 42, Faheem Ashraf 31, Duffy 4/33, Kuggelin 3/27) by 5 wickets.

For figures of 4 for 33, Jacob Duffy was named the man of the match award. New Zealand took a 1-0 lead in 3 match series. The second match will be played on 20th December at Seddon Park, Hamilton.









New Zealand beat Pakistan in the first T20I by 5 wickets 

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