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Pakistan began their home series against New Zealand with a dominating 88-run victory in Lahore on Friday, April 14. Despite the early wickets of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, the experienced and young duo of Fakhar Zaman and Saim Ayub scored 47 each off 34 and 28 balls respectively to post a target of 182.
On a night in the Indian Premier League (IPL) which saw more than 420 runs scored, the New Zealand batters were bundled out for just 94 runs courtesy of Haris Rauf's four-fer.
Chasing a commanding total proved too much for a second-string New Zealand team. Apart from skipper Tom Latham and Mark Chapman, none of the other batters were able to get a hold of their innings and were dismissed for less than 15 runs.
Young Chad Bowes (1) was the first to go. Impressive in the recent home victory against Sri Lanka, Bowes faltered against a different brand of opposition. He was caught LBW by Zaman Khan before Shaheen Afridi got Will Young (2). The skipper Latham tried (20) to turn the tide but he too fell, giving Haris Rauf his first wicket of the match.
This hurt their confidence as the Kiwis failed to bounce back from their early blows. Rauf finished the game with 4 for 17 in 3.3 overs while Imad Wasim picked up two wickets in one over to get Adam Milne and Matt Henry.
Earlier, Pakistan started as poorly as New Zealand. Skipper Babar Azam was bowled for 9 runs by Adam Milne before Mohammad Rizwan was out LBW for 7 by the same bowlers. But Fakhar took charge of the proceeding and combined with 20-year-old Saim Ayub for a 79-run stand off just 42 balls.
Fakhar was eventually dismissed by Ish Sodhi after holing the to Chapman at deep backward square leg. He scored 47 from 34 while Ayub hit 47 from 28 before being run out by Bowes. Then Imad Wasim (16) and Faheem Ashraf (22) took the game to the opponent bowlers and set a tough score for the visitors.
The only positive for the Kiwis was the hat-trick of Matt Henry, who got Shadab Khan (5) and Iftikhar Ahmed (0) in the final balls of the 13th over, before dismissing Shaheen in the first ball of the 19th to complete an impressive, if not expensive return.
The Kiwis will not have much time to recover as the 2nd T20I will be played in Lahore on Saturday, April 16.
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