- Pakistan lost Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman and others in quick succession.
- Imad Wasim heads back to pavilion.
- Earlier, Haris Rauf took 4 wickets to keep New Zealand at bay.
SHARJAH: After struggling against the Black Caps, Asif Ali hit two pressure-relieving sixes to give the Men in Green the upper hand against New Zealand Tuesday.
Babar and Rizwan carefully started Pakistan’s innings. However, the Pakistani skipper was bowled out by Tim Southee, as New Zealand drawing first blood.
Fakhar Zaman, after scoring a six, was trapped lbw. Hafeez showed some promise, hitting a six as well a few overs later. However, he was dismissed off a superb catch from Conway off Santner’s delivery.
A few deliveries later, Sodhi struck again for New Zealand, trapping Rizwan lbw. Rizwan walked off, not reviewing the decision.
Earlier, a Pakistani bowling onslaught led by right-arm pacer Haris Rauf kept New Zealand at bay, as the Black Caps handed Pakistan a mediocre target of 135 runs Tuesday.
New Zealand started their innings against Pakistan cautiously, but ended up losing four wickets to Pakistan before hitting three figures.
Martin Guptill, Daryll Mitchell and Jimmy Neesham headed to the pavilion after being dismissed by Haris Rauf, Imad Wasim and Mohammad Hafeez respectively.
After 10 overs, New Zealand had already lost three wickets to Pakistan’s bowling attack.
Earlier, the Kiwis made a cautious start by holding off Shaheen Afridi and Imad Wasim, as both Pakistani bowlers kept their line and length.
However, a blistering delivery by Haris Rauf caught Martin Guptill unawares, and shattered his stumps.
Pakistan earlier won the toss and have elected to field first against New Zealand as the green shirts lock horns with the Black Caps today.
“We are going to bowl first,” said skipper Babar Azam at the toss. “We will take early wickets and put pressure on them. The second reason is the dew factor [so the team may want to capitalise on it],” he said.
Speaking about the India win, Babar Azam said a victory always gives the team confidence, especially if it is the first one.
“There is always room for improvement so we will try to be consistent,” he said, adding that he has made no changes to the playing XI.
New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson said he would like his team to adopt to the circumstances in Sharjah.
New Zealand will be kick-starting their ICC T20 World Cup campaign today against the green shirts, who began their journey with a record-breaking win against India.
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