The 19th match of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 saw New Zealand take on Pakistan in Sharjah. This is New Zealand’s first match in the Super 12s stage, while Pakistan is coming off a huge morale-raising victory over archrivals India on Sunday.
Babar Azam got lucky with the toss again and chose to bowl first. Pakistan went in unchanged, while New Zealand confirmed that they have lost the services of pacer Lockie Ferguson for the remainder of the tournament due to an injury.
Pakistan bowlers didn’t let New Zealand batters get away with the game as Daryl Mitchell and Devon Conway top-scored with 27 runs, while Kane Williamson got run out for 25. Despite a try to push for quick runs, in the end, the Kiwis could only manage 134/8 in 20 overs.
Haris Rauf was the best of the Pakistan bowling attack with 4/22, while Shaheen Afridi, Imad Wasim, and Mohammad Hafeez picked one wicket each as well.
The cricket fraternity was all praises for the Pakistan bowlers and lauded them on Twitter.
Here are the tweets:
