A brand new period for Pakistan white ball cricket obtained off to a tough begin Sunday with a nine wicket loss to New Zealand in the first of 5 Twenty20 internationals.
First time captain Salman Ali Agha led a brand new look workforce into the match which adopted Pakistan’s poor efficiency at dwelling in the 50-overs Champions Trophy and commenced its buildup to the 2026 T20 World Cup.
The Pakistan batting crumbled in opposition to the New Zealand tempo assault and the vacationers have been all out for 91 in 18.4 overs, its fifth-lowest whole in T20 internationals.
New Zealand simply ran down that whole, reaching 92-1 from 10.1 overs with Tim Seifert making 44 from 29 balls and Finn Allen 29 from 17. Tim Robinson was 18 not out and took two runs from the first ball of the eleventh over to finish the win.
“It was obviously difficult and we weren’t up to the mark,” Ali Agha mentioned. “They bowled really well. They were bowling in the right areas and there was swing and seam for them as well.
“But out batting wasn’t up to the mark. We have won day before the next game and we will try to gather ourselves and be better in the next game.”
Pakistan was in trouble from the start with the new opening pair of Mohammad Haris and Hasan Nawaz, stepping in for the veterans Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam, both dismissed without scoring in the first eight balls of the match.
A fully fit Kyle Jamieson took 3-8 and Jacob Duffy 4-14 as Pakistan stumbled to 14-4 at the end of the six over powerplay. Jamieson and Duffy produced pace, bounce and swing on a brownish pitch at Hagley Oval and the Pakistan batters had no early response.
“It was really nice to be back on home soil,” said Jamieson who bowled 18 dot balls. “We had some fairly favorable situations which I’m positive me and (Duffy) would take most locations across the nation.
“It was nice to have those and just try to cash in as much as we could.”
Salman and Khushdil Shah gave the Pakistan innings some impetus once they took 14 runs from the tenth over bowled by Ish Sodhi and 15 from the eleventh bowled by Michael Bracewell to carry Pakistan from 28-4 after nine overs to 57-5 after 11. The Pakistan batters appeared extra at dwelling in opposition to the spinners
But Duffy returned to dismiss Khushdil for 32 and the remainder adopted shortly with solely three batters reaching three figures.
Seifert put New Zealand heading in the right direction to a snug win, taking 12 runs from the third over and 14 runs off the fifth as New Zealand reached 43-1 in the facility play. Allen, unusually subdued, scored solely nine runs in the first six overs.
New Zealand was 90-1 after 10 overs, needing solely 2 runs to win, when the umpires unaccountably known as for drinks.
The second match is at Dunedin, New Zealand on Tuesday.
Published – March 16, 2025 12:39 pm IST
