WELLINGTON: New Zealand thrashed Pakistan by seven wickets in the first Twenty20 international in Wellington.
Seth Rance and Tim Southee opened the bowling for the Black Caps and finished with three for 26 and three for 13 respectively from their four overs.
Babar Azam offered some resistance with 41 from as many deliveries, but tailender Hasan Ali – who smashed 23 from 12 balls – was the only other player to reach double figures as Pakistan were bowled out for 105 with two balls remaining.
Rumman Raees removed Martin Guptill and Glenn Phillips cheaply to briefly raise hopes of a comeback by the tourists, but Colin Munro hit an unbeaten 49 from 43 balls as partnerships of 49 with Tom Bruce and Ross Taylor saw the hosts over the line.
Raees finished with two for 24 in a losing cause, with the second game of the three-match series taking place in Auckland on Thursday.
A consistent performance in CHAMPIONS Trophy and now looking like they never knew how to play cricket. This is ridiculous. I can’t understand what is happening with this team? New Zealand does have world class bowlers but still get that low scores are catastrophic.
May be we need some change, I haven’t seen Sarfaraz performing. Against Srilanka in Champions Trophy he got few runs but that was after 2 catches dropped. Sarfaraz need to work on his batting skills else Kamran Akmal is still a better option.
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