The commentary is not available for this match. Please check the scorecard for latest updates.
Thank you for joining us- Mohul Bhowmick and Arya Sekhar Chakraborty- for this rather lopsided encounter in the first T20I between Pakistan and New Zealand from the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. The hosts will be elated with the result although New Zealand will want to desperately come back sharply. They get a chance to do that in a day's time when they take on the hosts in the second match of this series. Until next time, ciao!
Babar Azam (Pakistan captain): I had never dreamt of this (playing 100 T20Is for Pakistan). I still remember coming here as a ball boy and later as a net bowler when the Pakistan senior team was practicing. From there to have come here is unbelievable. Praise be to God. Saim Ayub did extremely well today with the bat, and I wish him luck for the future. The young man is learning everyday and getting better with every opportunity that's coming his way. Our bowlers did really well today. I am very happy with my team's performance.
Tom Latham (New Zealand captain): Preparation wasn't ideal but we won't use that as an excuse. We didn't quite adapt to the conditions, we bowled well in patches at certain stages they got o top of us. With the bat, we weren't able to build partnerships, obviously, it wasn't our day today. It was fantastic for Matt to get that hat-trick. Some guys haven't toured the subcontinent before. We get another opportunity later on today and hopefully we will be able to put up a better effort.
Haris Rauf (Player of the Match): I needed this performance as I was playing after a long time for Pakistan. Always try to bowl wicket to wicket in Lahore and it was no different today. If we get a good start, the way Shaheen and Zaman started it gives you confidence and the roles are defined whether you need to get wickets to keep the runs under check. Every wicket is special for me. Everything was right but sometime the spike gets soaked which makes you slip.
Time for the post-match presentation ceremony.
While New Zealand was just blown away by Pakistan, it was a great combined effort from Mitchell and Bowes to send back Shaheeen to the pavilion and also help Matt Henry get a hat-trick. Do give a read to the watch article compiled by the Sportskeeda team below.
Saim Ayub 47 (28) | Haris Rauf 4/17 Fakhar Zaman 47 (34) | Matt Henry 3/32
A complete walkover for Pakistan here. They were the better of the two teams by a huge margin and managed to outplay the Kiwis in all three departments: batting, bowling and fielding although the latter can be contested. Quite surprisingly, New Zealand proved to be quite incapable of keeping up with the pressure that Pakistan put upon them from ball one.
Given that they did not have too many experienced batters in their side, it was imperative for skipper Tom Latham and number three Will Young to get going. However, this did not happen. Also, late-order batter Jimmy Neesham was also expected to provide a flurry of fireworks, but sadly that did not materialise.
Pakistan will be extremely pleased with the way they performed today, especially with the ball in hand. The likes of Haris Rauf and Imad Wasim did really well individually, but almost all the other bowlers bagged a wicket apiece. With the bat in hand, Fakhar Zaman and young Saim Ayub had put up a strong partnership earlier in the day to set up this big total for the home team.
New Zealand will be displeased with the way they performed today, and will hope to do better in the second match of the series, which they will play tomorrow. Pakistan's captain Babar Azam will be very happy with his teammates. Matt Henry's hat trick did not help his team, and despite becoming the 4th Kiwi to do so, he ended up on the losing side.
15.3 Haris Rauf to Ben Lister, WICKET! Pakistan breach past New Zealand in the 1st ODI, Pakistan victors by 88 runs. Lister had no idea about that delivery whatsoever. That was angling back into the right-hander and then pitched and straightened, Lister doesn't get anywhere close to the pitch of the ball, gets comfortably beaten on the outside edge and the stumps goes for a toss. That has been a clinical performance from Pakistan. They have just blown New Zealand away.
Ben Lister b Haris Rauf 0 (3b 0x4 0x6)
15.2 Haris Rauf to Ish Sodhi, on a length around the leg stump channel, trickles towards the short fine leg region of his pads and a single taken.
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Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
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![[Watch] Dary Mitchell's brilliant efforts to complete Shaheen Afridi's catch as Matt Henry claims first T20I hat-trick vs Pakistan](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2023/04/276d2-16814986809688-1920.jpg?w=700)
