Shaheen Afridi’s debut as Pakistan’s Twenty20 captain has ended in a 46-run defeat against New Zealand in the series opener in Auckland.
Handed the captaincy ahead of the T20 World Cup in June, Afridi claimed three wickets and promoted himself in the batting order but was unable to prevent New Zealand going 1-0 up in the five-match series.
Put into bat, the hosts racked up 8-226, with Daryl Mitchell hitting 61 off 27 balls and skipper Kane Williamson making a brisk 57.
It was an eventful outing for Afridi, who dismissed Devon Conway with the second ball of the match but bled 24 runs in his second over when Finn Allen (34) smacked him for three fours and two sixes.
The skipper returned to remove the dangerous-looking Mitchell and also dismissed Adam Milne to finish with figures of 3-46.
Debutant Abbas Afridi, who claimed 3-34, was the pick of the Pakistan bowlers.
Babar Azam (57) anchored Pakistan’s chase for a while but Tim Southee (4-25) led New Zealand’s disciplined bowling, which was aided by their sharp catching, as they bowled out the visitors for 180 in 18 overs.
Shaheen Afridi promoted himself to No.7 but the ploy did not work as he fell for a duck.
“The partnerships we built throughout the middle with Kane and (Glenn Phillips) as well allowed us to build a platform to put the bowlers under some pressure, which you always try to do at Eden Park,” Mitchell said.
“The way the boys bowled at the end there was superb.”
New Zealand spinner Mitch Santner sat out of the match after testing positive to COVID-19, the team said.
Santner has been in isolation at the team’s Auckland hotel and will travel solo to Hamilton, which hosts the second match on Sunday.
– with AP