A cool ,great achievement. Congratulations Pakistan. 
:k:
Pakistan has earned a comfortable and a convincing win against New Zealand in the first T20 played in Dubai. Pakistani bowlers restricted New Zealand to just 135 and their batsmen chased it with 7 wickets in hand, thanks to Sarfraz’s 76 not out.
With this Pakistan have become first team in the world to register 50 victories in the T20 format, ahead of South Africa, who are in the second place with 43 victories.
Things started to go in Pakistan’s favour as soon as coin went up in the there, at the toss. Pakistan’s captain Shahid Afridi won the toss and made the right decision by letting New Zealand bat first.
In the very first over, Anwar Ali got the New Zealand captain Kane Williamson out for a golden duck to give New Zealand a major blow. In the next over Sohail Tanvir got the second wicket, as he trapped Anton Devcich LBW.
Ross Taylor also did not last for long, as Muhammad Irfan got his wicket in the next over. Taylor could not handle Irfan’s bouncer and got a top edge, which Umar Akmal caught easily standing at point.
New Zealand were 15/3 after 3 overs, but then there was a good partnership between Corey Anderson and Martin Guptill. Theie fourth wicket partnership was for 46 runs in 7 overs and helped New Zealand get back on their feet.
It was broken when Shahid Afridi bowled Guptill for 32. But Corey Anderson kept going as he hit Raza Hasan for a six after that and then Anwar Ali for a couple of sixes in the same over.
Luke Ronchi and Corey Anderson had a partnership of 50 in just 5 overs and New Zealand were looking towards a big total as they were 110/5 in 15 overs.
But then Pakistan dented New Zealand as Anderson was on 48 and was trying to reach his fifty with a six, but Saad Nasim judged well, jumped to perfection and took a great catch just few inches away from the boundary.
Pakistan bowled great last 5 overs and let New Zealand scored only 25 runs in them, as New Zealand finished at 135/7 in 20 overs.
Bowling figures of Pakistani bowlers
Name Overs Maidens Runs Wickets Run Per over Dot Balls Fours Sixes
Anwar Ali 2 0 15 1 7.50 7 0 2
Sohail Tanvir 4 0 24 2 6.00 11 1 1 (1w)
Mohammad Irfan 4 0 27 2 6.75 13 3 0 (1nb, 2w)
Raza Hasan 4 0 24 1 6.00 11 1 1 (1w)
Mohammad Hafeez 2 0 15 0 7.50 2 0 1
Shahid Afridi 4 0 27 1 6.75 9 3 0
Pakistan opened their innings with Sarfraz Ahmed and Awais Zia. The latter was looking shaky but the former was carrying a great form lately, in all formats of the game.
Sarfraz was hitting boundaries all over the park and was in full control, but Zia was only getting edges and was not in control. There was a 50 run partnership Sarfraz and Zia, first 50 run opening partnership for Pakistan in last 19 games.
Very soon Zia’s misery came to an end, as he got run out after scoring 20 runs off 21 balls. Next was former T20 captain and Pakistan’s highest T20 scorer Muhammad Hafeez, but he also got run out after scoring 2.
After that, Sarfraz started attacking even more, as he hit Anderson for 2 fours and a six in the same over and reached his first T20 fifty.
Next was Haris Sohail, who was also not too convincing. He scored 11 runs off 12 balls and never looked in full control. Pakistan were 97/3 then and needed 39 off 33 balls.
But Sarfraz and Umar Akmal’s partnership needed only 28 balls to score those 39 runs, as Umar Akmal played a brilliant cameo of 27 off 14 balls. He hit 3 fours and finished the match with a super shot for six runs.
Sarfraz remained not out on 76 off 64 balls and hit 2 sixes and 8 fours in that innings. He was adjudged man of the match.
