New Delhi: Recovering from the humiliating defeat from Afghanistan, Pakistan took a lead in the 5-match series by registering a one-sided victory over New Zealand in the first T20. In response to Pakistan’s 182 runs, the Kiwi team was bundled out for 94 runs. Pakistan’s regular captain Babar Azam also returned to the team from this match. Shadab Khan was made the captain by resting him in the series against Afghanistan. Babar defeated New Zealand by 88 runs and equaled the record of former Team India captain MS Dhoni.
As a captain in T20 International, MS Dhoni won Team India in 41 matches. At the same time, Babar Azam has also won 41 matches for Pakistan under his captaincy. Former Afghanistan captain Asghar Afghan and England’s Eoin Morgan hold the record of winning the most matches as captain in T20 Internationals. Both have won 42 matches for their teams. In such a situation, Babar Azam will make a world record as soon as he wins 2 matches.
PCB has given the ultimate
Babar Azam has also become the third player from Pakistan to play 100 T20 International matches. Shoaib Malik (123) and Mohammad Hafeez (119) have played more matches than them. At the same time, discussions regarding the captaincy of Babar Azam are continuing. The Pakistan Cricket Board had recently said that the decision on the captain of the team would not be taken by the board or the selectors but by potential advisor Mickey Arthur. PCB chairman Najam Sethi has also clearly said that Babar Azam is the captain only as long as he is helping the team win.
Talking about the match, Pakistan won the toss and decided to bat first. After the early dismissals of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, and Saim Ayub played innings of 47-47 runs. Despite Matt Henry’s hat-trick, Pakistan managed to score 182 runs. In response, the entire New Zealand team returned to the pavilion for 94 runs in 15.3 overs. Haris Rauf took 4 wickets for just 18 runs in 3.3 overs.
