A brand new period for Pakistan white ball cricket acquired off to a tough begin Sunday with a nine-wicket loss to New Zealand within the first of 5 Twenty20 internationals.
First-time captain Salman Ali Agha led a new-look staff into the match, which adopted Pakistan’s poor efficiency at house within the 50-overs Champions Trophy and started its buildup to the 2026 T20 World Cup.
The Pakistan batting crumbled in opposition to the New Zealand tempo assault and the vacationer was all out for 91 in 18.4 overs, its fifth-lowest whole in T20 internationals.
New Zealand simply ran down that whole, reaching 92-1 from 10.1 overs, with Tim Seifert making 44 from 29 balls and Finn Allen 29 from 17. Tim Robinson was 18 not out and took two runs from the primary ball of the eleventh over to finish the win.
“It was clearly troublesome, and we weren’t up to speed,” Ali Agha stated. “They bowled very well. They have been bowling in the appropriate areas, and there was swing and seam for them as nicely.
“However our batting wasn’t up to speed… we’ll attempt to collect ourselves and be higher within the subsequent sport.”
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Pakistan was in bother from the beginning with the brand new opening pair of Mohammad Haris and Hasan Nawaz, stepping in for the veterans Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam, each dismissed with out scoring within the first eight balls of the match.
A completely match Kyle Jamieson took 3-8, and Jacob Duffy 4-14 as Pakistan stumbled to 14-4 on the finish of the six-over powerplay. Jamieson and Duffy produced tempo, bounce and swing on a brownish pitch at Hagley Oval, and the Pakistan batters had no early response.
“It was very nice to be again on house soil,” stated Jamieson who bowled 18 dot balls. “We had some fairly beneficial situations which I’m positive me and (Duffy) would take most locations across the nation.
“It was good to have these and simply attempt to money in as a lot as we may.”
Salman and Khushdil Shah gave the Pakistan innings some impetus once they took 14 runs from the tenth over bowled by Ish Sodhi and 15 from the eleventh bowled by Michael Bracewell to elevate Pakistan from 28-4 after 9 overs to 57-5 after 11. The Pakistan batters regarded extra at house in opposition to the spinners
However Duffy returned to dismiss Khushdil for 32, and the remaining adopted shortly, with solely three batters reaching three figures.
Seifert put New Zealand on the right track to a cushty win, taking 12 runs from the third over and 14 runs off the fifth as New Zealand reached 43-1 within the energy play. Allen, unusually subdued, scored solely 9 runs within the first six overs.
New Zealand was 90-1 after 10 overs, needing solely two runs to win when the umpires unaccountably referred to as for drinks.
The second match is at Dunedin, New Zealand on Tuesday.