Sarfraz Ahmed’s Pakistan won a seventh consecutive Twenty20 International (T20I) when they defeated New Zealand by two runs in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
Sarfraz Ahmed’s Pakistan won a seventh consecutive Twenty20 International (T20I) when they defeated New Zealand by two runs in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
In the first T20I of the ongoing three-match series, the tourists were excellent on the field as they restricted Pakistan to 148 for 6 but then they failed to replicate that with the bat as they eventually fell short of two runs.
BlackCaps’ explosive opener registered yet another half-century before he was dismissed for 58 runs off just 42 balls. Glenn Phillips, who displayed superb fielding skills, failed to impress with the bat as he got out for just 12 runs.
The opening pair of Phillips and Munro posted 50 runs before the former was dismissed. Munro then got out in the 12th and he was soon followed by Captain Kane Williamson and Colin de Grandhomme and the failures of these middle-order batsmen hurt New Zealand the most in the end.
While wickets kept falling in regular succession on one end, there was veteran Ross Taylor stuck on the other end who was doing everything possible so that his side crossed the line successfully.
On the last ball, when the Kiwis needed Taylor to hit a six for the super over to happen, the 34-year-old only managed a four and New Zealand lost the opening match and that way Pakistan continued their winning streak in the shortest format.
Continuing the trend from the recent Australia series, which Pakistan won 3-0, the hosts opted to bats first.
Had New Zealanders showed a better batting performance, the won toss would have backfired for Ahmed and Co because the visiting bowlers were superior for most of the times in the innings.
The duo of Adam Milne and Ajaz Patel dismissed the Pakistan openers with just 10 on the board.
The in-form batsman, Babar Azam, was the first man to get dismissed. The opener, who fell in the third over, was caught behind while he tried to cut a wider delivery from Milne. In the next over, two-match old Sahibzada Farhan, who tried to slog everything he received out of the park, got out. As he slog-swept Patel to square leg, he was caught by Munro for just one run.
The 67-run stand between Mohammad Hafeez and Asif Ali helped the hosts recover back on the track.
Hafeez scored 45 runs off 36 balls, while his partner was looking good too. However, Williamson brought back Milne into the attack and the bowler did exactly what was required – make a breakthrough – as Milne removed the set man Hafeez in the 12th over. A diving catch from Tim Southee at the point was just an icing on the cake.
As the responsibility of taking Pakistan to a great total suddenly fell on the shoulders of Ali, he smashed a boundary and a six looking threatening but did not last long. De Grandhomme had him caught at deep midwicket for a 21-ball 24.
Pakistan decided to keep Shoaib Malik for the death openers so Captain Ahmed walked in, promoting himself up the order. While he kept the run flow moving, he lost his batting partners on the other end.
New Zealand’s spinner Ish Sodhi got him caught for 26-ball 34 as the home side were restricted at 148 in 20 overs.
The two sides had locked horns in the beginning of the year when Pakistan toured the Oceania country. In that tour, while Pakistanis were whitewashed in the five-match ODI series, they had won the T20I 2-1.
While they will look to continue their dominance over the Kiwis, Williamson and Co will head to Dubai in order to square the series and force a decider in the third and final match.
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