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Patna : New Zealand (NZ) beat Pakistan by 5 wickets in the first T20I at Eden Park, Auckland, NZ, on December 18, 2020, with right arm fast medium bowler Jacob Duffy, 26, taking 4/33 in 4 overs on debut while Scott Kuggeleijn, 28, also a fast medium bowler taking 3/27 in 4 overs. Duffy was named Player Of the Match.
Replying to Pakistan’s 153/9 in 20 overs, NZ scored 156/5 in 18.5 overs with opener Tim Seifert (wk) scoring 57 in 43 balls hitting 6 fours and 1 six while Mark Chapman scored 34 in 20 balls with hitting 4 fours and 1 six. NZ now lead the three-match T20I series 1-0.
Electing to bat after winning the toss, Pakistan lost their first five wickets with just 39 runs on board. Opener Abdullah Shafique fell to Jacob Duffy for a duck making it 8/1. Mohd Rizwan (wk) also fell to Duffy for 17 and it was 20/2. Veteran Mohd Hafeez, 40, too fell to Duffy for a duck making it 20/3. And then, Hyder Ali fell to Scott Kuggeleijn for 3 and it was 20/4 afterv 4.1 overs.
Khushdil Shah fell to spinner Ish Sodhi for 16 making it 39/5 after 8.2 overs. Captain Shadab Khan and Imad Wasim then added 40 runs for the 6th wicket. Imad Wasim fell to Kuggeleijn for 19 and it was 79/6. Shadab Khan and Faheem Ashraf added 35 runs for 7th wicket. Shadab fell to Duffy for 42 in 32 balls hitting 2 fours and 3 sixes and it was 114/7. Fast bowler Wahab Riaz fell to Kuggeleijn for 9 making it 136/8. Faheem fell to medium fast bowler Blair Tickner for 31 and it was 149/9 after 19.3 overs.
Chasing a target of 154, NZ lost theirv first two wickets with just 21 runs on board. Opener Martin Guptil fell to fast bowler Shaheen Afridi for 6 making it 8/1. Devon Conway fell to fast bowler Haris Rauf for 5 and it was 21/2. Opener Tim Seifert and Glenn Phillips then added 44 runs for the 3rd wicket. Glenn fell to Rauf for 23 hitting 2 fours and 1 six and it was 65/3. Seifert and Mark Chapman added 45 runs for the 4th wicket. Seifert fell to Shaheen Afridi for 57 making it 110/4. Chapman fell to Rauf for 34 and it was 129/5. James Neesham remained unbeaten on 15 hitting 2 sixes while captain Mitchell Santner remained unbeaten on 12 hitting 1 six. Rauf took 3/29 while Afridi took 2/27.