It was a stunning day for the Pakistan fast bowlers in the first innings of the game between Pakistan and New Zealand. They rattled the top-order of New Zealand with their brilliant display of fast bowling. Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Amir and the other have displayed fantastic skills while Neesham and Colin de Grandhomme did the job for the team.
Getting into the details, initially, it was Kane Williamson, who won the toss, opted to bat first. It wasn’t turned out to be a good decision, as Martin Guptill and Colin Munro once again failed to deliver the goods for the team.
James Neesham-Colin de Grandhomee saved Kiwis:
The blitz from Shaheen Afridi saw New Zealand reeling in the middle, as they lost Ross Taylor and Tom Latham in quick succession. Following both, Kane Williamson also went back to the pavilion after adding a few runs to the scorecard.
However, then came the stunning partnership from James Neesham and Colin de Grandhomme, who batted with a lot of intent. They played Pakistan bowlers with a lot of determination to make things fall in the place.
They settled in the crease to help Kiwis reach a moderate total on the board. Despite the brilliant partnership, Pakistan bowlers were smart in putting pressure on the duo, as they never leaked runs in a flow.
From the Kiwis point of view, it must be a brilliant partnership, as the duo has halted the collapse of the team. In the end, all they managed was on the board.
Here are a few tweets:
https://twitter.com/newsbelly2/status/1143884198861606912
The emotions of Pakistani fans at the moment #CWC19 #NZvPAK #WeHaveWeWill pic.twitter.com/ie1hVmplX3
— Fouzan Z Mughal (@fouzan007) June 26, 2019
https://twitter.com/Shaikh199/status/1143883917369282560
Shaheen afridi came out of syllabus or Nesham ?♂️#NZvPAK
— JSK (@jahanzaibsk) June 26, 2019
James Neesham & Colin de Grandhomme#NZvPAK #PAKvNZ pic.twitter.com/REVSmWg1fs
— RVCJ Media (@RVCJ_FB) June 26, 2019
Pakistanis watching Amir get hammered for boundaries:#PAKvNZ #NZvPAK #CWC19 #WeHaveWeWill pic.twitter.com/bG66pZFC7b
— Essam Pervaiz (@C7Essam) June 26, 2019
*World cup going smoothly and top 4 teams easily going through*
Pakistani cricket team suddenly out of nowhere in the middle of the tournament: #PAKvNZ #NZvPAK pic.twitter.com/WgecjoptkJ
— Don Pablo Escobar (@thegodfather701) June 26, 2019
I am a Kiwi for the day …. #CWC19
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) June 26, 2019
Come on the kiwis .. 225 looks good score to me .. #CWC19
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) June 26, 2019
From 85/5 to 217/6@BLACKCAPS are honestly gunning for the trophy #NZvPAK #CWC19
— Reedip⏳ (@204nothinghere) June 26, 2019
Legend Babu nahi is right#PAKvNZ #NZvPAK #ICCWorldCup2019 pic.twitter.com/W0wLfIdISq
— Faisal Rasool (@FaisallRasool) June 26, 2019
English crowds are amazingly double standards.. They cheer Amir but boo Smith and Warner. #NZvPAK #CWC19
— Engineer Harshad Karekar (@harshad403) June 26, 2019
It's nice to see a left arm spinner for New Zealand stroll out to bat wearing glasses again #NZvPAK #CWC19
— Patrick Gray (@PatrickM_Gray) June 26, 2019
AFRIDIIIIII great bowling ???
— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) June 26, 2019
Great start Pakistan!! We should not let this go from here, body language must stay the same. Wickets are crucial Pakistan must not sit back, need to keep attacking #WC19
— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) June 26, 2019
Santner with glasses looking like college kid just like how Vettori looked . Both left arm NZ spinners. #Cwc19
— Vikram Sathaye (@vikramsathaye) June 26, 2019
A good recovery from @BLACKCAPS . Pakistan will have to bat well to chase this down. 2/3 early wickets could be just the start Newzeland will want. Over to Boult and Co now.
Fakhar will have to play a crucial innings here. #CWC19 #NZvPAK— Cricket with Q. (@CriQitCentral) June 26, 2019
@iamamirofficial finishes his spell well. But he has conceded 67 off his 10. Expensive, considering this has been a low-scoring innings. NZ have one last over to get their score above 230-mark.#NZvPAK
— Waqar Gujjar (@wikigujjar786) June 26, 2019
Johny Neesham take a bow, the 97 n.o. worth several more than a century!
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) June 26, 2019
Brilliant mature innings by Neesham !!! That last ball by Riaz was forgettable to say the least ! #cwc19
— Vikram Sathaye (@vikramsathaye) June 26, 2019
Pendulum’s swung the other way. Brilliant partnership between Neesham and Grandhomme has taken NZ past 200 (could finish with 230+) but more importantly taken away the psychological advantage from Pak
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) June 26, 2019
Take a bow Jimmy Neesham…that knock deserved a century…should be enough
— Digvijay Singh Deo (@DiggySinghDeo) June 26, 2019
Top Fight back by Neesham and Granhomme but Shaheen superb Spell in Start kept Paksitan bit above of New Zealand.
Can Pakistan chase down 238?
60/40 % in favour of Pakistan.
Game On.#PAKvNZ
— Abdul Ghaffar (@GhaffarDawnNews) June 26, 2019
This is a staggering comeback from New Zealand and another chapter in the inspiring story of @JimmyNeesh. Not sure it is a winning score but certainly a chance for the bowlers. So much in this World Cup depends on the next 50 overs.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) June 26, 2019
