PAK vs NZ: A brilliant knock of 74 runs in 41 balls from Finn Allen, followed by an outstanding four-wicket haul from Adam Milne, allowed the Kiwi’s to win the second T20 International on Sunday in Hamilton against Pakistan. The Black Caps now have a 2-0 lead in the five-match T20i series against the Men in Green
Despite brilliant half centuries from Babar Azam (66 runs in 43 balls) and Fakhar Zaman (50 runs in 25 balls), Pakistan failed in their pursuit of a target of 195 runs set by the Black Caps, and eventually the Men in Green were bundled out for 173 runs in the final over of the second innings.
However, the victory in the second T20 International came with a setback for the Kiwi’s as skipper Kane Williamson got retired due to a hamstring injury he suffered while batting in the 1st innings, thereby raising concerns regarding the skipper’s availability in the remaining three matches for New Zealand in the five-match T20i series against Pakistan.
The 2nd T20i followed in the footsteps of New Zealand’s previous 46-run victory in the 1st T20i in Auckland on Friday, demonstrating their bowling attack’s ability to regularly take wickets and prevent Pakistan from getting an upper hand in the run chase. At one point, the target looked achievable for the Men in Green thanks to the partnership of 87 runs for the 3rd wicket between Fakhar Zaman and former Pakistani skipper Babar Azam. But Adam Milne got the breakthrough as he managed to clean bowl Zaman (50 in 23 balls), which left the Men in Green at 97-3 in 10 overs.
After the dismissal of Fakhar, the Men in Green struggled, as no other batsman other than Babar Azam looked like a threat before he was dismissed by Ben Sears for 66 runs. Once Babar got dismissed, the batting unit of Pakistan was not able to do anything and was bundled out for 173 runs.
Adam Milne was the best bowler of the Kiwis, as he finished the game with figures of 4-33, while Tim Southee (2-31), Ben Sears (2-28), and Ish Sodhi (2-33) finished with 2-2 wickets each. All-rounder Mitchell Santner was the most expensive bowler of the night, as he ended the game without taking a single wicket and gave away 47 runs.
The Kiwi’s were once again asked to bat by Shaheen Afridi, and Kiwi opener Finn Allen dominated the Pakistani bowling as his knock of 74 runs included five sixes at an outstanding strike rate of 180.48. At the halfway point, the Black Caps were at 111-1 before skipper Kane Williamson suffered a hamstring injury and got retired for 26 runs. The Black Caps will be concerned regarding the fitness of the 33-year-old as he was injured for the majority of 2023, and he even missed the home ODI and T20i series against Bangladesh in December last year.
Opener Finn Allen carried on with his aggressive hitting before leggie Usama Mir cleaned him up with a beauty of a delivery. The remaining Kiwi batters couldn’t do much against Haris Rauf (3-38) and Abbas Afridi (2-43), but Mitchell Santner applied the finishing touch with his cameo of 25 runs from 13 balls.
Read: Who will be Rohit Sharma’s opening partner in the 2nd T20I against Afghanistan?
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