After India, this time Pakistan also lost to New Zealand. Pakistan beat New Zealand by 6 wickets with 7 balls to spare and picked up two consecutive wins in the Super Twelve.
Two Pakistani openers, Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam, started the innings after responding to New Zealand’s 134 runs. 26 runs came in the opening pair. However, captain Babar Azam, who batted well against India in the previous match, could not do very well in this match. He left with only 9 runs. Babar came back bold with the ball of Tim Southee. But at the other end, Rizwan was a bit fluent. 33 runs came from his bat.
After Rizwan’s return, Fakhar Zaman and Mohammad Hafeez did not have much of an advantage. Fakhar Zaman was dismissed for 11 runs. Hafeez also went back with 11 runs. Pakistan lost 5 wickets for 6 runs.
But experienced Shoaib Malik and Asif Ali handled the disaster. The two of them formed a pair and dragged the team. With the responsible batting of these two, Pakistan reached the port of victory. Shoaib Malik made 26 runs off 20 balls. And Asif played a cameo innings of 26 runs from 12 balls.
Ish Sodhi took 2 wickets for New Zealand. Besides, Tim Southee and Trent Bolt took 1 wicket each.
Earlier, New Zealand gave Pakistan a target of 135 runs in the Super Twelve match in Group Two. After losing the toss, New Zealand scored 134 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in 20 overs.
Two Kiwi openers Martin Guptill and Darrell Mitchell started cautiously. However, Harris Rauf brought the first breakthrough for Pakistan by returning Guptill who scored 18 runs. Then captain Ken Williamson tried to form a big partnership with Mitchell. But Mitchell went back to Imad Wasim. 26 runs came from his bat. After that Williamson could not go far. After being run out, he went back with 25 runs. James Nisham could not settle down. He took a personal 1 run.
Glenn Phillips and Devon Conway broke the tie at the crease to lead the Kiwis, who had lost four wickets before 100 runs, to Harris Rouf. Conway, who was playing well, returned for 27 runs. Rauf returned Phillips in the same over. 13 runs came from Phillips’ bat.
Pakistan has started this year’s event with a great victory. In the previous match, Babar Azam Bahini defeated arch-rivals India by a huge margin of 10 wickets. In that match, two openers Rizwan and Babar Azam picked up a half century with a great batting gift.
Martin Guptill and Darrell Mitchell, the two Kiwi openers, watched and played early in the innings. Harris Rauf brought the first breakthrough for Pakistan by returning Guptill who scored 18 runs. Then captain Ken Williamson tried to form a big partnership with Mitchell. But Imad Wasim prevented it. Mitchell went back to his ball. 26 runs came from Mitchell’s bat.
After that Williamson could not go far. After being run out, he went back with 25 runs. James Nisham could not settle down. He took a personal 1 run.
Glenn Phillips and Devon Conway broke the tie at the crease to lead the Kiwis, who had lost four wickets before 100 runs, to Harris Rouf. Conway, who was playing well, returned for 27 runs. Rauf returned Phillips in the same over. 13 runs came from Phillips’ bat. In the end, no one was able to burn with the bat. As a result, New Zealand’s innings ended with 134 runs in the allotted 20 overs.
