New Zealand secured a stunning 46-run victory over Pakistan in the first T20I at Auckland's Eden Park on Friday, January 12 to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. Batting first New Zealand posted a colossal total of 226/8 riding on Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell's brilliant half centuries. Shaheen Afridi, who was leading Pakistan for the first time in T20Is, and Abbas Afridi shone with three-fer each but failed to contain New Zealand under 200.
Had Pakistan team fielded well, they would have restricted New Zealand to a comparatively lower total. Pakistani fielding woes were once again on display in the first T20I. This time it was none other than Babar Azam, who dropped Kane Williamson's catch to leave everyone in a state of disbelief. Williamson, who was then batting at 9 off 11, sent a shot off Abbas Afridi's bowling directly to Babar at mid-on, which should have been a straightforward catch. However, Babar misjudged it, missing a simple chance. Williamson went on to score 57 off 42 riding on nine boundaries to help New Zealand post a big total.
Meanwhile, in the post-match presentation, following Pakistan's drubbing in the first T20I, captain Shaheen said," Proud moment to captain the team, proud moment for any player to lead his country. We played good cricket, we'll try to give our best in the next games. Williamson and Mitchell played really well. We have to take those catches, need to work on that. Ayub played a good knock, Abbas was impressive on his debut, those are the positives. We need to be accurate and use our variations going forward,” Shaheen Afridi said in the post match presentation."
Shaheen himself couldn't enjoy his debut as the captain of Pakistan's T20I team as it was less than ideal, especially after New Zealand's Finn Allen dominated him in the first T20I at Eden Park, Auckland. Choosing to field first, Shaheen initially showed promise by taking Devon Conway's wicket and conceding just one run in his opening over. However, Finn Allen quickly shifted the momentum, aggressively scoring against Shaheen.
In Shaheen's second over, he conceded 24 runs, propelling the Black Caps to a quick 30 for 1 within the first three overs.
Talking about Pakistan's batting, only Babar showed some spark with the bat as he went on to score 57 off 35 riding on six fours and two sixes. However, his efforts went in vain as Pakistan were reduced to mere 180 runs, conceding the match by 46 runs.
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