After being whitewashed in the three-match Test series in Australia, Pakistan would have hoped to start fresh in the ongoing five-match T20I series against New Zealand. The Men in Green would have liked to make a positive start in a different format under new captain Shaheen Afridi.
The start was positive as Shaheen Afridi won the toss and opted to bowl first in the first T20I in Auckland before dismissing the dangerous Devon Conway for a duck in the very first over the game. However, the visitors failed to capitalise on the early breakthrough as New Zealand’s batters took their bowlers to the cleaners at the Eden Park.
Riding on Daryl Mitchell’s blistering half-century, New Zealand recovered from the poor start and posted a huge total of 226 for 8 in the allotted 20 overs. After Finn Allen departed for 35 in the 5th over, Mitchell and captain Kane Williamson shared a 78-run stand to lay the foundation for the big total.
Pakistan set unwanted record:
Abbas Afridi broke the stand when he dismissed Williamson for 57. Mitchell, on the other hand, did not let the dismissal affect his momentum as he went all out against the Pakistan bowlers and smashed 61 runs off just 27 balls with the help of 4 fours and as many sixes.
The poor effort with the ball saw Pakistan set an unwanted record in Shaheen Afridi’s very first game as the full-time T20I captain. 226 is now the highest total against the Men in Green in the shortest format of the game. The previous record was 221/3 scored by England in Karachi in 2022.
The match also marked the first-ever instance of New Zealand scoring over 200 against Pakistan in T20Is. Their previous highest T20I total against the Asian team was 196/5 they scored at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington in 2016. Pakistan will need to break their record for the highest successful chase in order to defeat New Zealand in the first T20I. This record was set in 2021 when they successfully chased down a target of 208 against the West Indies.
