Pakistan bundled out for meagre 91 as NZ go 1-0 up

Pakistan's white-ball tour of New Zealand started on a horror note as the visitors crashed to a @L0$ of the five-match T20I series at Hagley Oval, Christchurch.

Put in to bat, Pakistan were shot out for 91, their fifth-lowest T20I total and their third-lowest while batting first. Kyle Jamieson (3-8) and Jacob Duffy (4-14) were the major stars with the ball for New Zealand. The Black Caps then hunted it down in only 10.1 overs with nine wickets in hand, to go 1-0 up in the series.

The tone was set by Jamieson, who bowled a wicket-maiden in the first over of the match to peg Pakistan back. The tall seamer had Mohammad Haris nicking to slip in the first over while debutant Hassan Nawaz also fell to a duck in the next over, enabling New Zealand to get off to the perfect start. Jamieson made it even better when he took out Irfan Khan in his second over, leaving Pakistan on the mat at 1/3. More damage was done with the new ball as Jamieson dislodged Shadab Khan, as Pakistan ended the PowerPlay at 14/4.

From such a start, there was no coming back although newly-appointed skipper Salman Ali Agha (18 off 20) and Khushdil Shah (32 off 30) tried to offer some resistance. The pair added 46 for the fifth wicket and this included a passage where Khushdil hit Michael Bracewell for successive sixes in an over. The struggle against pace meant that the batters tried to overattack spin and it eventually ended the partnership. Ish Sodhi got rid of Agha and it opened the floodgates once again for the home side. Duffy ended Khushdil's stay and the innings fell away after that.

Only three Pakistan batters got to double digits and it summed up their disappointing show with the bat. The result was a foregone conclusion at the halfway mark itself and the realistic question was how quickly New Zealand would wrap the game up. For Pakistan to script a miracle, they needed a bucket load of wickets with the new ball but that wasn't to be. Tim Seifert (44 off 29) killed the game in the PowerPlay before perishing off the penultimate delivery of the sixth over.

The opener took his time in the first couple of overs before tearing into Pakistan's bowlers. Finn Allen (29* off 17) played second fiddle in the opening stand but once Seifert fell, he took on the mantle of attacking the bowlers. Pakistan's attack didn't have much scope with such a low total on the board and they were carted around.

@B0$: Pakistan 91 in 18.4 overs (Jacob Duffy 4-14, Kyle Jamieson 3-8) lost to New Zealand 92/1 in 10.1 overs (Tim Seifert 44, Finn Allen 29*) by nine wickets