31/10Result
1st T20I (N), New Zealand tour of United Arab Emirates at Abu Dhabi, Oct 31 2018
Pakistan won by 2 runs
Player of the Match
Mohammad Hafeez
Mohammad HafeezPakistan
31/10Result
1st T20I (N), New Zealand tour of United Arab Emirates at Abu Dhabi, Oct 31 2018
Pakistan won by 2 runs
Player of the Match
Mohammad Hafeez
Mohammad HafeezPakistan

END OF OVER:
20 | 14 Runs | NZ: 146/6 (3 runs required, RR: 7.30)

  • Ross Taylor42 (26b)
  • Tim Southee5 (2b)
  • Shaheen Shah Afridi3-0-29-0
  • Hasan Ali4-0-35-3

That's it from us for tonight, folks. Hope you enjoyed our company. It's a good time for me Shashank to say goodbye on behalf of Akshay and Debayan. Stay locked to ESPNcricinfo for everything cricket. We're happy to hear. You can connect with us on facebook or tweet at @ESPNcricinfo. Cheers, hope to see you on November 2 for the second T20I.

Kane Williamson isn't too dissatisfied with the result. "Weren't far away, thought we were quite good for large parts," he says with a smile. Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed credits his bowlers for bringing his side back. Hafeez felt Pakistan were at least 15 short with the bat. "Asif Ali was brought up because we thought he has the shots to take the attack," he says. "They're a tough team, but we knew overs 6-12 were crucial and we had to restrict them there. I thought Shaheen and Hasan were superb."

Mohammad Hafeez is the Player of the Match for his 45 and three miserly overs.

11.30pm It isn't often you can call a series against Australia an appetiser, but one T20I against New Zealand has shown there is little doubt this will be the main course of Pakistan's home season. Pakistan swarmed all over Australia in both the Test and T20I series, but the little brothers in that trans-Tasman relationship look unlikely to be pushed over that easily.

New Zealand will rue that middle overs period against spin where they could manage just 16 off four overs after the openers set them up quite magnificently. They'll look back at the timing of Colin Munro's dismissal as one of the turning points. That said, they'll be mighty proud of the way they've competed to run Pakistan close. They'll have two more cracks at getting things right. If tonight's a glimpse of what is to come, we should be in for a super exciting series. How crucial were those 10 runs off the last two balls by Imad Wasim?

Shahab: "40 overs of cricket and it was all down to the last ball in each innings, 6 for Pakistan, 4 for NZ."

Irshad: "How cool was that last over. Another impressive left armer from Pakistan.. Everytime I see Shoaib Malik field, bat or bowl.. I can't help but wonder, How cool is that.."

Hamza: "Shaheen Shah saved the game but still looked unhappy as he moved his head even after victory. Promising behavior of improvement"

19.6
4
Shaheen Shah Afridi to Taylor, FOUR, full toss, he's hit this for four but that isn't enough. Pakistan win by two runs but New Zealand have given them a bigger fight than Australia did.

The prayers have begun.

19.5
2
Shaheen Shah Afridi to Taylor, 2 runs, full toss, low full toss, which he swings into the gap at deep midwicket to pinch two. That means New Zealand need a six off the final delivery to force a tie and Super Over.

Excellent execution under pressure from Shaheen

19.4
2
Shaheen Shah Afridi to Taylor, 2 runs, excellent yorker, right into the blockhole, Taylor can only squeeze this as far as the midwicket fielder.
19.3
1
Shaheen Shah Afridi to Southee, 1 run, slashes this down to square third man, 11 off three. This was a full toss, was it below the waist?

The most NZ have got in a final over to win is 15 v Zimbabwe. If they score these 12, it'll be a new high for them

19.2
4
Shaheen Shah Afridi to Southee, FOUR, has he squeezed this to the fine leg boundary? Looks like he has, anyway the third umpire will have a check. This is full, angling into middle and leg, Southee squeezes this between his legs. Runs away past short fine. The fine leg fielder puts in a desperate dive but in trying to push the ball back in, he disturbed the advertising hoardings beyond where it should've been. Four runs, useful runs, to keep the game alive

Sixer Southee on strike with New Zealand needing 16 off five.

19.1
1
Shaheen Shah Afridi to Taylor, 1 run, drills this full delivery to mid-off, only a single.

END OF OVER:
19 | 9 Runs 2 Wkts | NZ: 132/6 (17 runs required from 6 balls, RR: 6.94, RRR: 17.00)

  • Ross Taylor33 (22b)
  • Hasan Ali4-0-35-3
  • Shaheen Shah Afridi2-0-15-0
18.6
W
Hasan Ali to Seifert, OUT, swings, misses and hears the stumps rattle. Hasan bowls full, straight, gets this to veer in late and beat the swing to hit the middle of middle. Hint of reverse? Whatever, he's done the trick.

TL Seifert b Hasan Ali 0 (1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00

Will Seifert look to go hell or high water? Just has to swing, look for a boundary. Doesn't matter if he gets out. At least Taylor will be on strike

18.5
1
Hasan Ali to Taylor, 1 run, yorker-length, squeezed to mid-off. 17 off seven now.
18.4
2
Hasan Ali to Taylor, 2 runs, another muscular hit into the leg side, the throw from deep midwicket is week and Seifert makes it back. They would've gone for the second anyway.
18.3
2
Hasan Ali to Taylor, 2 runs, mowed into the gap at deep midwicket, they'll scamper a second. He picked the slower ball and belted it away. Excellent work in the deep too
18.2
4
Hasan Ali to Taylor, FOUR, top-edges this wide of the keeper, crucial crucial boundary it could be. Not a bad delivery, beat him nearly with a slower bouncer, Taylor swung hard to get some bat. Raced away. Is there life in the game still?

Nadeem: "Why would you not bowl out Hafeez? mind boggling captaincy from Sarfraz"

Get the feeling that it's Taylor v Pakistan now. Seifert is the new man in, the wicketkeeper who has a best of 14. How they'd like those many runs tonight

18.1
W
Hasan Ali to Anderson, OUT, how far has he hit this? Not quite far, Malik takes an excellent catch running backwards at long-on. The ropes were just behind him and he was mindful of that. Held his balance very nicely to complete the catch. Anderson was deep inside the crease to manufacture the length, couldn't quite get underneath and hit this straight to the fielder.

CJ Anderson c Shoaib Malik b Hasan Ali 9 (12b 0x4 0x6) SR: 75.00

END OF OVER:
18 | 11 Runs | NZ: 123/4 (26 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 6.83, RRR: 13.00)

  • Corey Anderson9 (11b)
  • Ross Taylor24 (18b)
  • Shaheen Shah Afridi2-0-15-0
  • Hasan Ali3-0-26-1

26 needed off the last two.

17.6
1
Shaheen Shah Afridi to Anderson, 1 run, waist-high full toss which he doesn't get hold of, hit to mid-on as they take a single.
17.5
1
Shaheen Shah Afridi to Taylor, 1 run, big inside edge as he attempts a mow over the leg side, they scamper a run off a deflection towards point.
17.4
4
Shaheen Shah Afridi to Taylor, FOUR, pulled away and this is quite ferociously done as well, no chance for deep midwicket for Taylor picked the bones out of it. This will ease some pressure. The drought has been broken, Ross's favourite area
17.3
2
Shaheen Shah Afridi to Taylor, 2 runs, makes room and belts this full toss into the gap at sweeper cover. This was a slowish throw to Shaheen who breaks the stumps, but I suspect the non-striker was comfortably in. Yes, very easy. No issues there.
17.2
1lb
Shaheen Shah Afridi to Anderson, 1 leg bye, swung through even before the ball arrived, only for the ball to hit his thigh. Shaheen Afridi was quite convinced about the lbw and implores his captain to review. They go up to refer, and replays confirm this clearly missed the inside edge. Which means the only question was height. Hawkeye comes back to confirm this would've just clipped the stumps so it comes back as umpire's call
17.1
1
Shaheen Shah Afridi to Taylor, 1 run, he's swung this across the line, but doesn't get hold. One bounce to deep square
17.1
1w
Shaheen Shah Afridi to Taylor, 1 wide, slips this full delivery way down leg, the captain was ready with a full length dive to his left to stop this.

Shaheen Afridi to bowl now. He'll come from around the stumps

END OF OVER:
17 | 9 Runs | NZ: 112/4 (37 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 6.58, RRR: 12.33)

  • Ross Taylor16 (14b)
  • Corey Anderson8 (9b)
  • Hasan Ali3-0-26-1
  • Shadab Khan4-0-26-1
16.6
1
Hasan Ali to Taylor, 1 run, mistimes a slog to mid-off, takes on the fielder for a single but had given up. A direct hit and Taylor would've been involved in a second run out.
16.5
1
Hasan Ali to Anderson, 1 run, low full toss which he mistimes down the ground to long-on.

NZ in UAE 2018-19 News

New Zealand 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st50C MunroGD Phillips
2nd29C MunroKS Williamson
3rd5C de GrandhommeKS Williamson
4th5LRPL TaylorC de Grandhomme
5th34LRPL TaylorCJ Anderson
6th9LRPL TaylorTL Seifert
7th14LRPL TaylorTG Southee