A clinical performance from New Zealand gave them an early lead against Pakistan in the five-match T20I series. New Zealand were powered by fifties from skipper Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell as they managed to post a massive total on the board. Even though Pakistan appeared to be on course for a brief period, they eventually lost steam to fall well short by 46 runs.

Shaheen Afridi’s reign as the new T20I skipper began with a bang as he struck in the very first over of the game. Devon Conway, who had returned for this series, mistimed one straight to short cover to depart for a golden duck, much to Pakistan’s delight. Only one run came off the first over and five from the next. However, things changed dramatically as Finn Allen ripped Shaheen apart in his second over to hammer two sixes and three fours to thrill the crowd. Allen smashed Aamer Jamal for one more six before a slower ball from Abbas Afridi ended his threatening cameo. Williamson got off to a stuttering start and had made only 16 off 19 in the powerplay.

Alongside Mitchell, Williamson revived New Zealand in the middle overs. However, it was Mitchell who hurt the visitors big time as he first hammered back-to-back sixes off Usama Mir which was then followed by an expensive over from Jamal that saw both the batters make merry. Williamson then hit successive boundaries again to bring up a fifty before miscuing one to depart for 57.

While Mitchell was in his elements picking apart the bowling attack for boundaries, he found great support from Glenn Phillips, who took little time to get going. Phillips did fall with five overs left in the innings and Pakistan appeared to storm back following Mitchell’s dismissal as well. With Mitchell Santner not available due to Covid, the batting lineup was a bit thin. The visitors couldn’t capitalise on that though as Mark Chapman went bonkers at the death to smash 26 off just 11 before Tim Southee finished the innings with another six.

The move to open with Saim Ayub instead of Babar Azam did wonders for Pakistan. The first ball of the run chase was smashed for a boundary by the young left-hander before he also hit a six to signal his intentions. He threatened to cause plenty of damage in the powerplay when Matt Henry was welcomed into the attack with a couple of sixes and a four by the opener but Adam Milne’s quick work caught the youngster short of his crease as he fell for an 8-ball 27. Unfortunately for Pakistan, they lost Mohammad Rizwan in the powerplay as well even though he looked in good touch for a brief period.

Even though the boundaries continued to flow for a brief period even after the powerplay, New Zealand slowly dragged the game back with wickets. Ish Sodhi took an excellent one-handed low catch off his own bowling to send Fakhar Zaman back to the pavilion and the dangerous Iftikhar mistimed a slower delivery to gift Southee his second wicket. At that point, Pakistan’s chances became a lot harder as they needed 92 from the final seven overs.

Boundaries were the need of the hour. And for his part, Babar did his best as he hit Milne for a six to round off the 14th over and followed it up with another six and a boundary in the following over to get to his fifty. However, Milne dealt Pakistan a double blow by getting rid of Azam Khan and Shaheen Afridi, leaving Babar with an improbable task. Jamal did throw his bat around but the final nail in the coffin was Babar’s wicket, post which Pakistan folded for 180.

Brief scores:
New Zealand 226/8 in 20 overs (Daryl Mitchell 61, Kane Williamson 57, Finn Allen 35; Shaheen Afridi 3-46) beat Pakistan 180 in 18 overs (Babar Azam 57; Tim Southee 4-25, Ben Sears 2-42) by 46 runs.