‌NZ vs PAK | Finn Allen’s heroics coupled with pacers domination thrash Pakistan as Kiwis go up 2-0 in Hamilton

Arriving on the back of a win in the first T20I, New Zealand were put to bat first in the second contest of the five-match T20I series. Familiar faces for the Wellington Firebirds, openers Finn Allen and Devon Conway gave the hosts a rollicking start, piling up 59 runs for the opening stand before the left-hander was outwitted by Aamer Jamal on the brink of powerplay. Captain Kane Williamson entered the fray and immediately showed his class when he drove Jamal for an elegant four to conclude the powerplay at 65/1. He accompanied Allen until the drinks break, gathering 52 runs together before walking off the field retired hurt due to tightness in his right hamstring. Daryl Mitchell replaced the skipper and continued to extract runs at a quick pace. However, Pakistan bowlers pegged back the hosts after Usama Mir cleaned up Allen (41-ball 74) in the 13th over. Mitchell followed suit in the next over with the scoreboard reading 157/4 after 16.1 overs. The home side could manage just 15 runs in the next eleven deliveries before Haris Rauf removed Glenn Phillips, Adam Milne, and Ish Sodhi in the 19th over. What looked an above 200 total midway through the innings, got curtailed to 194/8 by the end with Rauf picking up a three-fer.

In reply, unlike their counterparts, Pakistan suffered early jolts, losing Saim Ayub and Mohammad Rizwan within the first couple of overs. Realing at 10/2 after 1.3 overs, Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman stabilised the ship by capitalising on dropped chances. The former started slow and switched gears after Fakhar Zaman’s aggressive 25-ball kock for 50 ended in the 10th over. The visitors looked in a good position halfway down the chase at 97/3 at the cusp of the drinks break. However, they lost a flurry of wickets in the next 29 deliveries that saw Iftikhar Ahmed, Azam Khan, and Amar Jamal depart with single-digit scores. Babar tried to fight hard with assistance from Shaheen Afridi and the pair added 28 runs together before the former holed out to Tim Southee on the first ball of the 18th over off Ben Sears. The hopes of Pakistan leveling a draw almost died after Shaheen left for 22 off 13 balls in the next over. Eventually, the Men in Green succumbed to a 21-run defeat as the Kiwis bundled them for 173 with three balls to spare and clinched a 2-0 lead in the series.

Playing for himself

Obviously Babar Azam is playing for himself because Saim, Rizwan, Iftikhar, Azam Khan played for New Zealand. Single digits score for all of them! 🙄🙄#PAKvsNZ pic.twitter.com/oq3PUxAYFT

— Himanshu Pareek (@Sports_Himanshu) January 14, 2024

Blame game

Haters coming out to blame Babar again#PAKvsNZpic.twitter.com/LJr6SL1ECq

— Hassan (@HassanAbbasian) January 14, 2024

One man army

If One Man Army had a Face 🫡

Babar Azam = Whole Army#BabarAzam | #PAKvsNZ | #NZvsPAKpic.twitter.com/Q6HCQSm6sT

— 𝖬𝖺𝗁𝖺𝖽 🎗 (@MahadCricket) January 14, 2024

No chachu please

Iftikhar Ahmed got angry

When a fan called him "Chachu"

Dont call me "Chachu" iftkhar replied.#PAKvsNZ #NZvsPAK #NZvPAK#Iftimania #PakistanCricketTeam pic.twitter.com/G9DRBBWBxU

— Rizwan Babar Army (@RizwanBabarArmy) January 14, 2024

Shameful

Just three Pakistan players got into double figures. This is shameful 💔💔💔 #NZvsPAK pic.twitter.com/prprIULWP2

— Muhammad Tayyab (@tayyabmughal780) January 14, 2024

The only match winners

Fakhar and Rizwan are the only match winners for Pakistan. If you got their wickets quickly match finished #PAKvsNZ https://t.co/twzpwUPnPD

— John Wick (@invincible005) January 14, 2024

POTM

Player of the match in 2nd T20I against Pakistan - FINN ALLEN. pic.twitter.com/o1lpMX2D5X

— Jaya Suriyan (@_jayasuriyan_) January 14, 2024

Nothing without Babar!

So the highlight is Pakistan is nothing without Babar,

And a very good knock by foji🔥#BabarAzam𓃵 #PAKvsNZ #FakharZaman pic.twitter.com/ntWK2RyuA5

— Ahmad Malik (@theahmadmalik_) January 14, 2024

Another one

Another great win by the Black Caps, a couple of great performances against Pakistan

— Stu Fox (@stufox) January 14, 2024

Big WIN!

New Zealand defeated Pakistan by 46 runs in the 1st T20I and by 21 runs in the 2nd T20I. New Zealand played much better than Pakistan.👊💔#PAKVNZ pic.twitter.com/zxzIO2GJI4

— Imran_ Khan (@Imran_185) January 14, 2024