Batting blitz lifts Black Caps to convincing win

By Kris Shannon

A trip to Eden Park was all the Black Caps needed to blast their way out of a batting slump.

Half-centuries from Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell helped New Zealand claim the first T20 against Pakistan on Friday night, as the hosts racked up their fifth-highest total in the format en route to a 46-run win.

Williamson (57 from 42) and Mitchell (61 off 27) thrived on loose bowling and feasted on short boundaries to lift their side to 226-8, their second-best score at Eden Park and a new record mark by any nation against Pakistan.

That explosion banished the memories of a few subpar efforts with the bat in last month’s short-form series against Bangladesh, seeing the Black Caps make an encouraging start on the road to the T20 World Cup in June.

They won’t find many venues like Eden Park at that tournament in the West Indies, and Pakistan also found the dimensions to their liking for much of their chase. But while the tourists for a time threatened to replicate the efforts of Australia in 2018 – when they easily chased down 243 in Auckland – the pressure of the required run rate eventually told.

After reaching 130-3 in the 13th over, Pakistan lost their last seven wickets for 50 runs, ensuring the Black Caps didn’t suffer in the absence of Mitchell Santner, who tested positive for Covid on the morning of the match.

His batting wasn’t missed, either, though there was no sign of the fireworks to follow when Devon Conway fell from the second ball. The Black Caps subsequently failed to find the boundary in the first two overs, before the blitz began.

It was kickstarted when Finn Allen unloaded on Shaheen Shah Afridi in the third over, smacking three fours and two straight sixes in five balls. The opener repeated the dose off Aamir Jamal before having his stumps rocked, only to receive a reprieve with the Pakistani bowler overstepping.

Williamson also escaped a couple of close calls in consecutive overs, first barely surviving an lbw review before being shelled on nine by Babar Azam. But the Black Caps’ luck didn’t last as debutant Abbas Afridi deceived Allen (34 off 15) with a slower ball.

The hosts ended the powerplay on 56-2 and, after a steady start, Williamson started to find the boundary, though he was again fortunate to be dropped on 39 from a tougher chance for Iftikhar Ahmed.

The skipper reached 50 in the 12th over, showing his unerring ability to find gaps with both orthodox shots and improvisation, before falling while looking for a third boundary in as many balls.

That ended a 78-run stand from 40 balls with Mitchell and saw the No 4 accelerate, finding the short straight boundaries particularly to his liking as he raced past 50 from 22 balls. A brief flurry from Glenn Phillips (19 off 11) ended in the 15th over, leaving the Black Caps down to their last specialist pair for the final five overs.

Mitchell holed out to start the 17th but any fears about a long tail were dispelled by Mark Chapman (26 off 11), blazing an effective closing cameo to set the tourists a formidable target. Saim Ayub uncorked some cracking shots to ensure a fast start, though Williamson returned a favour by spilling a low chance from Tim Southee’s opening over.

The drops continued as Matt Henry couldn’t hold a sharp one-handed return catch from Mohammad Rizwan, before Ayub (27 off 8) was smartly run out by Adam Milne after a mix-up with his opening partner.

Pakistan kept their run rate at the required level as Santner’s absence was felt, though Ish Sodhi ensured his fellow spinner wouldn’t be too missed, snaring a tremendous diving catch from his own bowling to dismiss the dangerous Fakhar Zaman.

The tourists were well placed at the halfway mark on 109-3, needing a further 118 from 60 balls. But their pursuit stuttered when Southee (4-25) removed Iftikhar and then quickly unravelled, as the veteran seamer wrapped up the tail to become the first bowler to snare 150 T20I scalps.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission