Cricket Update: Pakistan loose their first T20 against New Zealand, Southee declared man of the match.
After losing the first warm up game against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Auckland-c766, Pakistan batting was expected to make immense corrections and overcome the weaknesses. A lot was expected from the first T20 played at Auckland between New Zealand and Pakistan as both the nations were
under substantial pressure. Pakistan was faced with so many controversies whereas New Zealand had to end their loosing streak.
It was a day of glory for New Zealand as they beat http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 in the first T20 by 5 wickets with 17 balls still remaining at the Eden Park. Tim Southee ripped through the lungs of Pakistan battling line up and grabbed his career best in T20 of 5 for 18 in
his four overs.
In the first of the three match series, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 promoted himself to open the innings along with Mohammad Hafeez. They gave a blistering start to
Pakistan score board by making 36 runs in just 3.5 overs before the wickets started to fall. Afridi was dismissed on the score of 20 from just 12 deliveries when he was caught mid on.
The loss of first wicket certainly did not put an impact on the scoring rate as Pakistan scored their 50 in just 5 overs. This was until http://www.senore.com/Cricket/A-Young-c41367 talent for New Zealand, Tim Southee came to devastate the Pakistan batting line up. His deliveries were pacy,
swung and certainly had admirable bounce in them to trouble the Pakistan batsmen. He took an ecstatic hat-trick to shatter all hopes for Pakistan leaving them 68 for 6 on a ground which had a short boundary and lightening outfield.
Southee took a total of 5 wickets. His victims for the hat-trick included Younis Khan, Mohammad Hafeez and Umar Akmal whose lbw decision was considered unfair. Umar Gul and Wahab Riaz provided the Pakistan dressing room with a little ray of light as the
duo scored 30 runs each to gift Pakistan with a respectable total of 143 for 9 after a huge batting collapse. For New Zealand, Kyle http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mills-c76321 was another sensation who took 3 wickets to support the magnificent performance of Southee.
Poor luck in the batting was not the only thing destined for Pakistan as they had some hard time bowling to the attacking New Zealand side. Martin Guptill's dazzling half century certified the victory of New Zealand. He played the Pakistani bowling attack
with a lot of intent and hammered them all over the park to provide New Zealand with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/A-Swift-c41334 start. Every shot he played was marinated with style and elegance.
Abdul Razzak was gunned 15 runs in his first and the only over. The most successful bowler for Pakistan was Shoaib Akhtar who took 3 wickets but gave away a bit too many runs with an economy of 9.5 runs per over. Pakistan never seemed to have control over
the match and was left far behind in the race as New Zealand chased the total in 17.1 overs with the loss of only 5 wickets.
For Pakistan, the only other bowler with success was Mohammad Hafez who took 1 for 29 in his 3 overs. The critics hold the batting of Pakistan liable for the loss. After a poor performance in the warm up game against Auckland, they were expected not to
repeat the same mistakes.
The game was an exciting one to give the series an interesting start. Will Pakistan learn from their mistakes and fight back in the second T20 to keep the series alive or will New Zealand nail the next one to convincingly win the series. Any thing is possible
in cricket, especially when two really exciting sides play each other.
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