‌NZ vs PAK | Twitter erupts as star-studded trio of Williamson, Mitchell, and Southee outshine Pakistan in Auckland

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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New Zealand went 1 -0 up in the five-match T20I series against Pakistan after star power overshadowed the visitors in Eden Park. Babar Azam’s fifty went in vain as they failed to overhaul a target of 227 runs that was forged on the back of fifties from Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell.

After winning the toss and deciding to field first, newly appointed skipper, Shaheen Afridi drew first blood after outfoxing Devon Conway for a golden duck on the second ball of the innings. Despite early jitters, Finn Allen charged the opposition bowlers and scored quick runs along with Kane Williamson before getting dismissed off Abbas Afridi in the fifth over. The powerplay score read 56/2 and Daryl Mitchell joined hands with his skipper and continued the onslaught. The experienced tag team orchestrated 78 runs for the third wicket before Williamson fell in the 12th over. However, this did not stop Mitchell from accelerating to a 27-ball 61-run knock which was followed by 61 runs from the lower middle order that helped the Kiwis to propel to 226/8 at the end of the innings. Shaheen Afridi and Abbas Afridi were the pick of the bowlers for the visitors, claiming a three-fer each followed by a couple for Haris Rauf.

In reply, Saim Ayub and Mohammad Rizwan (14-ball 27) initiated the chase with some flamboyant strokes that helped them gather 64 runs inside the powerplay. However, both openers fell inside the mandatory field restrictions with Ayub (8-ball 27) getting run out in the third over itself. While Babar Azam tried to stabilize the ship, wickets fell from the other end periodically. After a stunning catch from Ish Sodhi to dismiss Fakhar Zaman in the 9th over, Iftikhar Ahmed stitched a 40-run stand with Babar for the fourth wicket before the veteran holed out to leggie in the deep. Although the former Pakistan skipper brought up his fifty, he ran out of partners, and eventually, the visitors went from 159/4 after the 15th over to 180/10 after the 18th over. Tim Southee went on to bag a four-for while Ben Sears and Adam Milne bagged a couple despite leaking runs over ten-per-over.

The Twitterverse closely observed this contest and here’s how they reacted:

Babar did really well today!

Ok!

Good strike rate!

Nice!

Not like that! May be can sit and talk about it!

Slightly slow!

He just trashed!

Hmm!

He did it! 

That was some show if he had stayed!

:O

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