Pakistan concedes a setback against New Zealand despite Shaheen Afridi’s forgettable captaincy debut, smashing for 24 runs

Finn Allen hammered Shaheen Afridi for 24 runs in an astonishing display of power-hitting during the first T20I in Auckland.

The post Pakistan concedes a setback against New Zealand despite Shaheen Afridi’s forgettable captaincy debut, smashing for 24 runs appeared first on Cricket Country.

NZ VS PAK: Friday’s T20I match saw Pakistan play its maiden innings of cricket under Shaheen Afridi’s captaincy against New Zealand. But things didn’t go as planned for Afridi’s leadership debut, as the team lost by 46 runs in Auckland. This was an expensive affair even for bowler Afridi, who gave up 24 runs in an over against Finn Allen in his second innings, as Pakistan gave up a massive 226/8 in 20 overs. With two overs remaining, the visitors were similarly knocked out for 180.

With a wicket in the first over of the game, Afridi got things started in a grand fashion. With a full ball slanted beyond the off stump on the second delivery, Devon Conway was bowled, giving New Zealand an early disadvantage. This was due to Afridi’s brilliance. The quick bowler’s opening over produced five consecutive dot balls and just one run, leaving New Zealand down 1-1 at the end of the over.

But in the next over, the captain of Pakistan’s Twenty20 team bowled to Allen, which marked a decline in his game. He let up six, four, four, and six in the next five deliveries as the Kiwi opening absorbed the pressure that had been built up in Afrdi’s previous over.

This is how Afridi’s over transpired:
2.1: Allen delivered a forceful swing after Shaheen’s yorker failed to connect. Despite Allen losing his hold on the bat, the shot had enough force to clear the boundary for a six.

2.2: Allen drove the ball towards mid-off after a low full delivery, securing a boundary.

2.3: Aimed towards Allen’s shoes, the hitter skillfully guided the ball’s speed towards short, fine leg, bringing the total to four runs.

2.4: Allen scored four more runs on a half-volley by driving the ball to the left of mid-off.

2.5: Allen claimed the second six of the over after a missed yorker found its way into his striking zone once more.

2.6: Shaheen got some relief when he eventually produced a flawless yorker, capping his most costly T20I over with a dot ball.

Daryl Mitchell struck 67 off just 21 balls for New Zealand, and Kane Williamson hammered 57 off of the same in their 226 runs. Both Afridi and Abbas Afridi claimed three wickets each, with Afridi being the most economical at 3/34. Babar Azam batted at number three during the run-chase and scored a brilliant 57 off 35 deliveries, although he received little help from the other end.

Playing 11 :

New Zealand: Kane Williamson (c), Finn Allen, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert (wk), Adam Milne, Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee

Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Sahibzada Farhan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Shaheen Afridi (c), Haris Rauf, Aamer Jamal, Abrar Ahmed.

The post Pakistan concedes a setback against New Zealand despite Shaheen Afridi’s forgettable captaincy debut, smashing for 24 runs appeared first on Cricket Country.