Pakistan Keep New Zealand In Check At Sharjah

Pakistan kept New Zealand in check in the first innings of their Group 2 clash at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup after Babar Azam won the toss and opted to field first

SHARJAH, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Oct, 2021 ) :Pakistan kept New Zealand in check in the first innings of their Group 2 clash at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup after Babar Azam won the toss and opted to field first.

Pakistan bowlers restricted the Black Caps to 134 for eight.

Shaheen Shah Afridi, fresh from his heroics against India on Sunday, bowled a maiden in the opening over to immediately put a batting-heavy New Zealand side under pressure.

The openers both fell as they looked to up the scoring rate as the overs passed by, with Martin Guptill bowled by Haris Rauf and Daryl Mitchell caught at long-on off Imad Wasim.

Jimmy Neesham's visit to the middle lasted just two deliveries as Fakhar Zaman bagged his second catch of the innings to leave New Zealand 60/3 at the midway point of the innings.

Run-scoring at Sharjah had become relatively easier earlier in the group stage, with the Sri Lanka-Bangladesh and Afghanistan-Scotland games featuring high-scoring first inning scores.

While Pakistan have already made a great start to the Super 12 with the win over India, this is New Zealand's first game in ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021.

And the Kiwis start to the tournament had already got off to a disappointing start prior to the toss, with the news coming through that bowler Lockie Ferguson has been ruled out of the World Cup with a calf tear.