PAK VS NZ Highlights, T20 World Cup 2021: Asif Ali-Malik late blitz, Rauf take Pakistan to 5-wicket win vs New Zealand

Shadab Khan, in his first overs, gives away just three runs.

NZ are 48/1 after 8 overs.

Another really neat and tidy over from Imad Wasim. Concedes just three singles.

NZ are 45/1 after 7 overs.

Now that the field has opened up and knowing how Sharjah pitches behaved during IPL, expect Pakistan to tighten the noose firther.

A good, strong start from Pakistan. NZ are 42/1 after 6 overs.

A YORKER AT ALMOST 150KPH! WOW, THAT IS RAPID FROM HARIS RAUF. Forger bowling a warm-up delivery. He is bang on the money from ball 1.

BOWLED HIM! The pace does him. Guptill makes room and looks to tonk the ball over the leg side. The ball skidded onto his pads and then onto the stumps.

GUPTILL'S Struggle ends on 17 off 20

NZ ARE 36/1 AFTER 5.2 OVERS.

Kane Williamson is the new batter in

SIX! "WELCOME TO SHARJAH", SAYS MITCHELL! First ball of the night from Hasan Ali and Daryl Mitchell runs his hand through the line of the ball and he lifts the ball over long on for 6. IT WAS IN THE AIR FOR A WHILE

FOUR AND NO BALL! Short and straight from Hasan. Guptill makes room and slaps the ball over cover-point for 4. 

FREE-HIT! a fine yorker from Hasan and he only concedes a single

NZ are 36/0 after 5 overs

FOUR! Oh, dear! That is really average fielding! That is poor from Shoaib Malik at point. All the pent-up pressure on Guptill has been released. Marginal short, he slashes it through Malik for 4.

Martin Guptill, as of now, has scored 11 off 15 balls, this includes two fours. So that's a lot of dot balls.

NZ ARE 21/0 AFTER 4 OVERS.

FOUR! SLAAPPPPEDD! And Mitchell is up and running. Short and wide from Shaheen. Daryl makes room, and he flat bats it through extra for 4.

NZ ARE 15/0 AFTER 3 OVERS. 8 off it

Like last game, Imad Wasim is operating with the new ball from the other end.

FINALLY OFF THE MARK! It took NZ 8 balls in a T20 WC match against Pakistan to get off the mark but they have as Daryl Mitchell picked a single.

GUPTILL OFF THE MARK: He bunts the ball to short third and they run a quick single. Martin off the mark after 8 balls 

FOUR! THAT WILL MAKE HIM FEEL SO GOOD. Slightly short and wide from Imad, Martin cuts the ball past point off his backfoot

NZ ARE 7/0 AFTER 2 OVERS

BANG ON THE MONEY! An excellent start from Shaheen Afridi. Boy, is he spitting fire. Getting the ball to move in, nailing yorkers and not giving away anything.

All balls above 140 kph. MAIDEN.

NZ 0/0 after 1 over

New Zealand openers Martin Guptill and Daryl Mitchell are out. Shaheen Shah to open Pakistan's attack.

NZ PLAYERS TAKE THE KNEE, while PAK players hold their hearts

Right then, players are out for the anthems.

New Zealand's first. Then Pakistan's

Ish Sodhi: 5 innings; 40 runs; 34 balls faced| Dismissed-1

Tim Southee: 4 innings; 24 balls; 33 balls faced | Dismissed- 1

Lockie Ferguson: 1 innings; 21 runs; 14 balls faced | Dismissed -0

Mitchell Santner- 3 innings; 14 runs; 17 balls faced | Dismissed - 0

Let's take a look at their recent meetings: ADV PAK?

PAK won by 4 wickets

NZ won by 9 wickets

NZ won by 5 wickets

PAK won by 47 runs

PAK won by 6 wickets

Pakistan 14 - 10 New Zealand. Can NZ make it 11 today or will PAK pile further misery on NZ?

"It's nice to get started. Obviously a nice crowd out there, even if they are against us a bit. Unfortunately, Lockie Ferguson is ruled out of the tournament. Adam Milne joins the squad. We're having Tim, Trent, Ish, Santner and Neesham as our bowlers."

PAKISTAN: Mohammad Rizwan(w), Babar Azam(c), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi

NEW ZEALAND: Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, Kane Williamson(c), Devon Conway, Glenn Phillips, James Neesham, Tim Seifert(w), Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Trent Boult

"We're gonna bowl first. Hopefully we can take early wickets and restrict them to a low score. Dew is also a factor. Winning always gives confidence, especially when it comes in the first game of the tournament. Boys are keen to maintain the performance today as well. There is always room for improvement. Same team for us"

Babar Azam and Pakistan have won the toss and opted to bowl in Sharjah

Lockie Ferguson has been ruled out of the tournament with a calf tear. Adam Milne to replace the KKR pacer, if ICC approve

Mitchell Santner - 4 innings, 26 runs, 23 balls faced | Dismissed - 2

Ish Sodhi- 4 innings, 35 runs, 26 balls faced | Dismissed - 1

Adam Milne- 5 innings, 9 runs, 10 balls faced | Dismissed - 1

Trent Boult - 3 innings, 12 runs, 10 balls faced | Dismissed - 0

Tim Southee- 2 innings, 20 runs, 20 balls faced | Dismissed - 1

Trent Boult- 3 innings, 43 runs, 28 balls faced | Dismissed - 0

Adam Milne- 3 innings, 10 runs, 10 balls faced | Dismissed - 1

Mitchell Santner- 2 innings, 7 runs, 15 balls faced | Dismissed - 1

Which team and captain will the coin favour?

This has been New Zealand’s year. Correction. The past few years have been about them. The Kiwis may not have adequate silverware to prove it. Neither do they have favourable numbers. But they have shown up almost everywhere at the right time with the right bunch of characters, nearly all of whom play all formats. Cricket isn’t exactly big in New Zealand. (Full article)

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