Two things that stood out in Pakistan's big win over New Zealand in the first T20 International
Pakistan thrashed New Zealand by 88 runs in the first T20 international between them at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Friday (April 14). Pakistan scored 182 in their stipulated overs before New Zealand were skittled out for 94. Fakhar Zaman and Saim Ayub made 47 each for Pakistan, while Mark Chapman’s 34 went in vain for New Zealand.
It was an inspired performance from the hosts that saw them lead the 5-match series 1-0, with the second T20 international scheduled to be played on Saturday (April 15).
On that note, we will take a look at two things that stood out in the match:
#1. Zaman and Ayub’s stroke play helped Pakistan, as Matt Henry and Adam Milne breathed fire
Both Zaman and Ayub played a few lofted shots to clear the ground. They primarily played cross-batted shots that managed to clear the deep mid-wicket and long on boundaries with consummate ease. There was a lot of bounce on the surface during the first innings and it helped the Pakistani batters play their strokes.
The Kiwi pacers also utilized the pace and bounce of the wicket really well. Henry, who took 3/32, was the pick of the bowlers, with Milne chipping in with a couple of scalps. Both of them bowled into the wicket primarily and extracted good bounce and seam movement off it.
Milne was more effective with the new ball and shook Pakistan with double scalps of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. Henry, however, bowled superbly in his second spell and got a couple of outside edges through some excellent seam movement.
He also got a rare hattrick, his first in T20 internationals, through some brilliant seam bowling. Still, Faheem Ashraf’s late cameo meant that Pakistan finished with a very good score.
Matt Henry talks about the hat-trick moment and reviews the first T20I in Lahore.
#PAKvNZ | #CricketMubarak https://t.co/Oapo0ElGST
#2 The pitch slowed down in the second innings, as Haris Rauf excelled with the ball
The pitch was considerably slower in the second innings and the New Zealand batters failed to apply themselves properly as well. Zaman Khan trapped Chad Bowes in front of the wicket and Shaheen Afridi swung one back to get rid of Will Young to set things up nicely for the hosts.
New Zealand never really recovered from the early losses, though Tom Latham and Chapman added 27 runs for the fourth wicket. The two southpaws reserved Shadab Khan for some special treatment and pulled his shorter deliveries to the mid-wicket boundary on a few occasions. However, once Shadab got Latham with a straight delivery, the fate of the match was sealed.
Rauf then bowled superbly to clean up the tail. He predominantly bowled at the stumps with blistering pace and hardly needed help from the fielders to get his wickets. New Zealand finished their innings rather tamely in the end, allowing the hosts to register an emphatic victory.