There seems to be no end to Pakistan’s misery as they continued to struggle against New Zealand, this time in T20Is. Salman Ali Agha and co. were bowled out for just 91 runs in the 1st T20I in Christchurch, their 5th lowest total in the shortest format of the game. The New Zealand side is already depleted and consists largely of IPL discards. Yet, Pakistan couldn’t handle it.
Pakistan falter against depleted New Zealand side
Kyle Jamieson, former RCB player who went unsold in IPL 2025 mega auction, finished with figures of 3/8 from his 4 overs. The tall pacer rattled the top and middle-order with consistent strikes that saw Pakistan being reduced to 4 wickets in a flash. Ish Sodhi, another Kiwi star who went unsold in IPL auction, joined the party with his 2/27 from 4 overs.
Jacob Duffy emerged as the leading wicket-taker for New Zealand, finishing with figures of 4/14 from 3.4 overs. Only captain Agha (18), Khushdil Shah (32) and Jahandad Khan (17) managed to get to double digit scores. The rest of the inexperienced Pakistan line-up were of no-match to the hosts.
New Zealand’s premier players, including Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Santner have given the ongoing series a skip due to their IPL commitments. Pakistan hoped to start off on a good note following their Champions Trophy debacle. They even dropped Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan from the team to give chance to youngsters. However, that hasn’t worked as well.
