New Zealand has defeated Pakistan by 46 runs in the first T20 match of the five-match T20 series.
Pakistan cricket team captain Shaheen Shah Afridi won the toss and decided to field first. Kiwis Finn Allen and David Conway started the innings, but Afridi caught the latter out on the second ball. However, in the third over of the innings, the ace bowler was smashed for 24 runs.
Alan fell to Abbas Afridi after scoring 34 runs in 15 balls with the help of 3 sixes and 3 fours.
Several easy catches were dropped amid multiple instances of misfielding by Pakistan. Kiwi batsmen took full advantage cruising to 128 when the third wicket fell with Kane Williamson’s dismissal on 57.
New Zealand’s fourth wicket fell when Glenn Phillips was caught out by Babar Azam for just 19 on an Abbas Afridi’s ball, after which Daryl Mitchell scored 61 runs before being sent back to the pavilion by Shaheen Afridi.
New Zealand’s Mark Chapman made 26, Adam Milne made 10, Ortam Sothi was dismissed for just six runs while Ish Sodhi and Matt Henry returned to the pavilion for zero.
Shaheen Afridi and Abbas Afridi took three wickets each while Haris Rauf took two wickets.
Saim Ayub and Muhammad Rizwan started the innings on behalf of Pakistan. The former was run out after scoring 27 runs in 8 balls with the help of 3 sixes and 2 fours for a total of 33.
Muhammad Rizwan also scored 25 runs and was caught out by Tim Southee while Fakhar Zaman scored 15 runs. Iftikhar Ahmed was dismissed for 24 runs while Azam Khan played an innings of 10 runs. Babar Azam completed his half-century with the help of 2 sixes and 3 fours before being dismissed at 57 runs off 35 balls.
The captain was out on a duck while Osama Mir and Abbas Afridi could score one run each, Amir Jamal remained not out after putting up 14 runs.
Tim Southee took 4 wickets while Adam Milne and Ben Sears dismissed two players each, and one scalp went to Ish Sodhi.
The next match of the series will be played on January 14 on Sunday.
