Bracewell believes New Zealand ‘could’ve restricted’ Pakistan to a lesser score

CHRISTCHURCH: New Zealand captain Michael Bracewell was pleased with his team’s performance in the nine-wicket victory over Pakistan in the opening T20I but believes that they could have restricted the visitors to a lesser score.

Pakistan, put into bat first, were put under a lot of pressure by the home side’s pacers Jacob Duffy and Kyle Jamieson, who had reduced them to 1/3 in 2.2 overs.

The green shirts were soon slipped to 11/4 in 4.4 overs as returning all-rounder and vice-captain Shadab Khan fell after scoring just three.

Skipper Salman Ali Agha and fellow all-rounder Khushdil Shah then briefly anchored the innings as they put together 46 runs for the fifth wicket.

The fifth-wicket stand culminated with the captain’s dismissal in the 12th over, while Shah followed suit in the next.

Agha made 18 off 20 deliveries, while Shah remained the top-scorer for Pakistan with a 30-ball 32, laced with three sixes.

Their back-to-back dismissals sparked another collapse, which resulted in the visitors getting bowled out for a below-par 91 in 18.4 overs.

In response, the home side made the light work of the run chase and comfortably knocked the winning runs for the loss of just one wicket and 59 balls to spare.

Reacting to the thumping defeat in the series opener, New Zealand captain Michael Bracewell was satisfied with the performance but claimed that they could have curtailed the green shirts to a lesser total.

He shared that he had to hold Kyle Jamieson for the fourth over, who was already at his mark, highlighting the challenge of rotating the bowlers in T20Is.

"Was a great day in front of a great crowd. We have played against them domestically to have them in the same team, it was super difficult for them and they couldn't recover,” said Bracewell.

“Had to hold Kyle back for the fourth over, he was ready and at the top of his mark, it was difficult to keep them off the attack, maybe we could have restricted them to a lesser score, but it's always a challenge to rotate the bowlers around, especially in shorter formats like the T20s," he added.