The T 20 game between New Zealand and Pakistan on a wintery day this summer at Duniden was reduced to 15 overs due to rain, the pain that is an unwelcome guest at Cricket matches.
Pakistan and their new look post era side minus Babar Azam and Mohd Rizwan are improving, but time is essential. I hope Pakistan fans will have the patience to bear with the early loose ends faced by Pakistans’ new T 20 squad led by Salman Aghar.
Batting against the pace , bounce, and swing on Kiwi pitches is no easy task for subcontinent sides , hence, Pakistan is no exception.
They batted better than what they dud in Christchurch two days ago and made 135 for 9 wickets in 15 overs as the reduction of 5 overs from the T 20 was a forced change due to the wrath of inclement weather.
Openers Mohamed Harris and Hassan Nawaz are struggling to get bat to ball , hence, Pakistan is under pressure from the get-go to build a good score during the Power play overs.
Harris, despite the absence of Khyle Jammison from the Kiwi seam cordon, strugled against Jacob Duffy and Ben Sears.
Harris makes 11 runs in 19 balls whilst his partner does not disturb the scores.
Salman Aghar came good batting at number 3 , made 46 off 28 deliveries with 4 fours and 2 sixes , whilst Shadab Khan, who had his share of misery in the first T 20 made 26 off 14 balls thumping 2 big sixes and 2 boundaries, with late order help from Shahim Sha Afridi contributing 22 valuable runs to help the visitors to a par score of 135 for 9 wickets in 15 overs.
Jacob Duffy 2 for 26 , Ben Sears 2 for 23 ,Jimmy Neesham 2 for 26, and Ish Sodhi 2 for 27 enjoyed bowling to the Pakistani batting cordon who struggled upfront loosing 4 wickets for 52 runs in 7 overs.
A target of 136 for a strong Kiwi batting lineup is predictably an easy target in their own backyard is a fair assessment.
The first over from Afridi showed signs of early movement off the seam. Hence, Tim Seifert paid due respect by playing six dot deliveries but tore the rest of the Pakistani bowling to bits and pieces.
Tim Seifert made 45 in 22 deliveries with a strike rate of 204 .57 that included 5 sixes and 3 boundaries and a six that sailed 103 meters and landed outside the oval, whilst fellow opener Finn Allen made 38 off 16 balls , with 1 four and 5 sixes at a strike rate of 237. 48 , to help Kiwis on the winning track as the pair made 66 in 4.4 overs.
Honestly, the rest was history. New Zealand, despite the dismissals of both openers and even Glenn Philips, for no score, had the batting power to reach the target with 11 balls to spare.
Afridi went wicketless in his 3 over spell for 31 , Mohd Ali for 34 runs in 2 overs, but recorded a scalp in the bowling column whilst Harris Rauf impressed with 2 wickets for 20 runs in his 3 overs alloted spell and Khusdil 1 for 14 in 3 overs.
Good game from a Kiwi point of view , a challenge for Pakistan in the horizon for sure.