Pak vs NZ: Pakistani bowlers make 'unwanted' T20I history

Pakistani bowlers led by their skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi did not have their day as they were taken to the cleaners by New Zealand batters on Friday with the Black Caps setting a massive 227-run target in the first T20I at Eden Park, Auckland.

Despite a brilliant start where Shaheen managed to bag a first-over wicket, the Green Shirts failed to capitalise on the start and started getting bashed by the hosts.

After 20 overs of pure hardships and struggle, the innings ended with the Kiwis scoring 226 runs in the allocated overs, which became the most Pakistan ever conceded in T20I cricket.

Before today, England held the record of scoring the most runs against Pakistan as they scored 221 runs in a T20I match in 2022 which was played in Karachi.

All of Pakistan’s bowlers were taken to the cleaners, with just Abbas Afridi and Haris Rauf bowling with a decent economy of 8.50 each.

Aamer Jamal conceded 56 while Usama Mir was bashed for 51 runs in four overs.

Meanwhile, Daryl Mitchell and Kane Williamson were New Zealand’s best performers with the bat as the two scored 57 and 61 runs respectively.

Williamson was given a life at 11 as he was dropped by Babar Azam, the Kiwi skipper took full advantage of the chance and ended up scoring a fantastic half-century.

Although the 33-year-old didn’t play with a remarkable strike rate (135.71), he did manage to provide room for other players like Finn Allen (35 off 15) and Mitchell (61 off 27) who breathe fire with their bat and scored runs with the strike rates of 233 and 255 respectively.

Down the order, Mark Chapman did his job and scored another quick 26 off just 11 deliveries with two fours and as many sixes.

Lineups

Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Azam Khan (wk), Aamer Jamal, Usama Mir, Shaheen Afridi (c), Abbas Afridi, Haris Rauf

New Zealand: Finn Allen, Devon Conway (wk), Kane Williamson (c), Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Adam Milne, Matthew Henry, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Ben Sears