Jacob Duffy shines on debut as NZ beat Pak at Eden Park

In the 1st T20I of the series, New Zealand defeated Pakistan by 5 wickets with an over to spare. Although the Pakistan bowlers tried their best but the New Zealand batters were just better on the day. While Jacob Duffy stared with the ball for New Zealand.

Pakistan: Shadab Khan 42(32), Faheem Ashraf 31(18) Jacob Duffy 4/33, Scott Kuggeleijn 3/27

New Zealand: Tim Seifert 57(43), Mark Chapman 34(20) Haris Rauf 3/29, Shaheen Afridi 2/27

Player of the match: Jacob Duffy

Jacob Duffy picks 4 on debut as NZ restrict Pak to 153.

In the 1st T20I match of the series, Pakistan skipper Shadab Khan won the toss and opted to bat first. But then Pakistan didn’t take advantage of it as were placed at 20/4 before the power play could end. Rizwan 17(17), Shafique 0(2), Haider Ali 3(5), Hafeez 0(1) all 4 departed within the first 4 overs of the match. Skipper Shadab Khan and Kushdil joined in next and tried to make up for the early loss. But Khushdil 16(20) too didn’t stay for long.

Imad Wasim 19(14) played few good shots and vanished. But it was skipper Shadab Khan 42(32) who took up responsibility and took the score to a respectable total. Faheem Ashraf 31(18) too played some big shots in the death overs. Pakistan eventually finished at 153/9. Jacob Duffy was the pick of bowlers for New Zealand as he picked 4 wickets on debut while S Kuggeleijn picked 3.

Pakistan bowlers try their best but Kewis chase target with an over to spare.

Chasing 154 wasn’t a challenging task for the Kewis as they had an explosive batting line up. But NZ too lost few quick wickets. Martin Guptill 6(10) and Devon Conway 5(4) departed early. And NZ were placed at 21/2 at the end of 3 overs. But Tim Seifert and Glenn Phillips joined in and played few good shots. Glenn Phillips 23(18) was the next one to depart in the 9th over. Pakistan bowlers were aiming to get back in the match.

But Tim Seifert 57(43), Mark Chapman 34(20) took the match away from Pakistan. Both played few very good shots to some very good bowling by the Pakistani pacers. But both lost their wickets in a gap of 2 overs. Pakistan bowlers had found another ray of hope at this stage. But James Neesham 15(10) and skipper Mitchell 12(8) ensured there as no further humps in the chase. And eventually chased the target with an over to spare. For Pakistan Haris Rauf picked 3/29 while Shaheen Afridi picked 2/27. Debutant Jacob Duffy was adjudged man of the match for his outstanding spell.

Also Read: https://www.cricdart.com/jaffna-stallions-win-lpl-2020-final-by-53-runs/

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