AUCKLAND – New Zealand beat Pakistan in the opening match of their bilateral T20I series at Eden Park on Friday.
Pakistan captain Shaheen Shah Afridi won the toss and elected to field first. New Zealand were 226 for a loss of 8 wickets at the end of their innings.
The Green Shirts lost their pursuit and were unable to turn a strong start, which was given by Saim Ayub’s outstanding innings, as the left-handed batsman struck 27 off just 8 runs.
Azam Khan’s poor performance at the bat worsened the visitors’ problems, but the Green Shirts were still in position to pursue the mark at 130-4 after 12.4 overs.
Fakhar Zaman (15 off 10), Iftikhar Ahmed (24 off 17) and Azam Khan (10 off 9) were the Men in Green’s underperformers with the bat.
Former captain Babar Azam led the losing team in scoring with 57 runs off of 35 balls.
Adam Milne and Ben Sears both took two wickets, while Tim Southee, who took his 150th T20I wicket, claimed three.
Ranked fourth globally, Pakistan’s last T20Is were in April 2023 against New Zealand in a five-match series played in Lahore and Rawalpindi.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan, appointed vice-captain under Shaheen, emerged as Pakistan’s leading run-scorer in the previous series, while right-arm pacer Haris Rauf was the most successful bowler.
Playing XI:
Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Azam Khan (wk), Aamir Jamal, Usama Mir (Debut), Shaheen Afridi ©, Abbas Afridi (Debut), Haris Rauf
New Zealand: Finn Allen, Devon Conway (wk), Kane Williamson ©, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Adam Milne, Matthew Henry, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Ben Sears
