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

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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New Zealand went 2-0 up in the five-match T20I series after their pacers scalped eight wickets, four of which belonged to Adam Milne. Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman’s fifties were not enough after Finn Allen’s power-packed knock in Seddon Park had helped the hosts set a daunting target of 195.

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

Blame game

One man army

No chachu please

Shameful

The only match winners

POTM

Nothing without Babar!

Another one

Big WIN!

 

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