Second T20I between Pakistan Men’s Cricket Team and New Zealand Men’s Cricket Team has just finished in Hamilton with New Zealand winning the match by 21 runs and leading the 5 series by 2-0.
New Zealand was asked to bat first as Pakistan has won the toss and choose to ball first. Fin Allen and Devon Conway started really well for the New Zealand until Devon Conway falls for Aamer Jamal on his very first ball of 5th over. Kane Williamson made 26 off 15 balls and he was retired hurt. Fin Allen was bold out by Usama mir and he finish for 74 off 41 with 5 sixes and 7 fours. Haris Rauf took 3 wickets and finish with the economy of 9.50. Abbas Afridi took 2 wickets while Usama Mir and Aamer Jamel took 1 wickets each. New Zealand set a target of 195 for Pakistan.
The Young Saim ayub departs early in the first over to Tim Southee and Muhammad Rizwan falls for Adam Milne in the second over. Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman batted really well together and until Fakhar Zaman departs after making a blistering 50 off 25 balls with 5 sixes and 3 fours. Azam Khan, Iftikhar Ahmad and Aamer Jamal can’t reach double figures and Pakistan kept losing wickets in a very short time. Babar Azam finish with 66 off 43 balls. Shaheen Shah Afridi also contributed with his 22 off 13 balls. Adam Milne took 4 wickets while Ben Sears, Tim Southee and Ish Sodhi took 2 wickets each. Pakistan was bold out for 173. Babar Azam was the highest run scorer for the Pakistan’s side.
Fin Allen was awarded Player of the Match for his blistering 74 off 41 balls.
Adam Milne was clearly the pick of the bowlers with a figure of 4/33, and Ben Sears backed it up beautifully with the crucial wicket of Babar Azam. Tim Southee controlled things at the death, and the spinners did their job too. All in all, it was a good bowling performance as a unit. Babar Azam showed good fight. The wicket of Fakhar Zaman stymied the momentum, and the innings began to spiral down after that as Babar Azam didn’t get much support form the other end. Pakistan found it tough to pick wickets on the start and middle overs which has been the longstanding issue.
The two teams now move to Dunedin where they will play their third T20I on Wednesday, January 17, 2024.
1 thought on “PAK vs NZ 2nd T20I”