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New Zealand vs Pakistan, 1st T20I: New Zealand beat Pakistan by nine wickets
Pakistan Bowled Out for 91 as New Era Starts with a Disappointing Loss
Mohammad Haris and Hasan Nawaz opened the batting in the absence of Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam in the playing XI.
During the fifth T20I in Pakistan's tour of New Zealand last year, Pakistan struggled while chasing 135 in Christchurch and were bowled out for just 92 runs. Interestingly, in the first match of this five-game series, 135 had been a winning score for New Zealand, thanks to excellent bowling by Kyle Jamieson and Jacob Duffy, who dismantled a fresh-looking Pakistan team.
Pakistan's decision to drop their usual stars, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, was an attempt to try something new in T20 cricket. While the team generally performs well, they faced the downside of taking risks, collapsing for 91 runs on Sunday. It marked their lowest score in New Zealand and their fifth-lowest in T20 history.
On a day when both New Zealand’s men’s and women’s teams secured dominant wins in Christchurch, the Black Caps outclassed Pakistan with Jamieson and Duffy sharing seven wickets. Their sharp bounce proved too difficult for Pakistan's batters to handle.
Jamieson made an impressive return to New Zealand's T20I squad after almost two years, delivering a wicket maiden to set the stage. Mohammad Haris fell to a short ball, edging it to wicketkeeper Mitch Hay.
Next, debutant Hasan Nawaz mishit a delivery from Duffy, leading to an easy catch by Jamieson at deep third. Both Pakistani openers were out for ducks, marking only the second time this has happened.
Jamieson struck again in the third over, as Irfan Khan edged the ball to the wicketkeeper, leaving Pakistan struggling at 1 for 3—their lowest score at the fall of their third wicket in T20I history.
Tim Robinson then made an incredible catch at backward point, reminiscent of Glenn Phillips' Champions Trophy brilliance, to hand Jamieson his third wicket. The scoreboard showed Pakistan reeling at 11 for 4.
In the powerplay, Pakistan stumbled to 14 for 4, but it could have been worse. Tim Seifert missed a catch at point, dropping Khushdil Shah off Michael Bracewell's bowling. In the next over, Agha edged a full ball from Zakary Foulkes, but Daryl Mitchell let the chance slip in the cordon.
Capitalizing on these dropped chances, Agha and Khushdil tried to stabilize the innings. They began picking up the pace in the tenth over, with Agha reverse-sweeping Ish Sodhi for a boundary and Khushdil hitting the first six of the innings over midwicket. The following overs saw Khushdil smashing Bracewell for consecutive sixes, momentarily putting pressure back on the bowlers. However, this momentum was short-lived.
Sodhi ended Agha's resistance with a reverse-sweep attempt that found deep backward point. Duffy then dismissed Khushdil, who slapped a short ball to backward point, leaving Pakistan at 64 for 6 after 13 overs. Debutant Abdul Samad and Jahandad Khan soon fell attempting big hits, before Duffy wrapped up the tail in the penultimate over. His strong performance followed his success as the leading wicket-taker in the recent T20I series against Sri Lanka.
Pakistan’s total of 91 became the fourth-lowest T20I score by any team in New Zealand.
After a cautious start in the first over, Tim Seifert kick-started New Zealand's chase with a pull shot through midwicket off debutant Mohammad Ali. He then capitalized on Shaheen Afridi's over, hitting three boundaries, including another pull shot in front of square.
Seifert continued his aggressive approach, charging Ali for another boundary, and added two runs off Jahandad's first over. Finn Allen, who had been quiet until then, joined the action by lofting Jahandad for the first six of the innings.
Pakistan introduced spin into the attack, but Seifert welcomed Abrar Ahmed with a massive six over long-off. However, Abrar managed to dismiss him with a carrom ball that was edged to Haris behind the stumps. By then, New Zealand had already taken a firm grip on the match in the powerplays.
Allen added another six and two fours to his tally, while Tim Robinson contributed a six as well. New Zealand comfortably reached the target, wrapping up the chase just one ball after the halfway mark of the innings.
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