A new era for Pakistan white ball cricket got off to a rough start Sunday with a nine wicket loss to New Zealand in the first of five Twenty20 internationals.
First time captain Salman Ali Agha led a new look team into the match which followed Pakistan’s poor performance at home in the 50-overs Champions Trophy and began its buildup to the 2026 T20 World Cup.
The Pakistan batting crumbled against the New Zealand pace attack and the tourists were all out for 91 in 18.4 overs, its fifth-lowest total in T20 internationals.
New Zealand easily ran down that total, reaching 92-1 from 10.1 overs with Tim Seifert making 44 from 29 balls and Finn Allen 29 from 17. Tim Robinson was 18 not out and took two runs from the first ball of the 11th over to complete the win.
“It was obviously difficult and we weren’t up to the mark,” Ali Agha said. “They bowled really well. They were bowling in the right areas and there was swing and seam for them as well.
“But out batting wasn’t up to the mark. We have won day before the next game and we will try to gather ourselves and be better in the next game.”
Pakistan was in trouble from the start with the new opening pair of Mohammad Haris and Hasan Nawaz, stepping in for the veterans Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam, both dismissed without scoring in the first eight balls of the match.
A fully fit Kyle Jamieson took 3-8 and Jacob Duffy 4-14 as Pakistan stumbled to 14-4 at the end of the six over powerplay. Jamieson and Duffy produced pace, bounce and swing on a brownish pitch at Hagley Oval and the Pakistan batters had no early response.
“It was really nice to be back on home soil,” said Jamieson who bowled 18 dot balls. “We had some pretty favorable conditions which I’m sure me and (Duffy) would take most places around the country.
“It was nice to have those and just try to cash in as much as we could.”
Salman and Khushdil Shah gave the Pakistan innings some impetus when they took 14 runs from the 10th over bowled by Ish Sodhi and 15 from the 11th bowled by Michael Bracewell to lift Pakistan from 28-4 after nine overs to 57-5 after 11. The Pakistan batters looked more at home against the spinners
But Duffy returned to dismiss Khushdil for 32 and the rest followed quickly with only three batters reaching three figures.
Seifert put New Zealand on course to a comfortable win, taking 12 runs from the third over and 14 runs off the fifth as New Zealand reached 43-1 in the power play. Allen, unusually subdued, scored only nine runs in the first six overs.
New Zealand was 90-1 after 10 overs, needing only 2 runs to win, when the umpires unaccountably called for drinks.
The second match is at Dunedin, New Zealand on Tuesday.