New Zealand 226 for 7 (Mitchell 61, Williamson 57, Abbas 3-46) beat Pakistan 180 (Babar 57, Southee 4-25) by 46 runs
Pakistan responded by unleashing the fury of a side out to prove a point, but lacked in control and pacing what New Zealand had possessed. The home side continued to chip away with regular wickets to dent Pakistan in pursuit of the colossus of a total, and despite a blazing start, the visitors never could get the asking rate under control.
Shaheen’s first – and Shaheen’s second
But if New Zealand started slow, Allen would make up for it with a savage onslaught that began with Shaheen’s second over. Shaheen had spoken of the difficulty of bowling full at Eden Park with its short straight boundaries, and in that over, Allen offered a live demonstration. In the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final, Shaheen had removed Allen in his first over, and New Zealand never recovered from the blow. Here Allen would make amends by smashing each of Shaheen’s first five balls for boundaries – two sixes sandwiched by three fours – to plunder 24 in the over and get New Zealand on their way.
Mitchell goes straight through Pakistan
Pakistan had begun to pull things back after Allen’s dismissal, felling him with a slower ball shortly after Babar had spilled Williamson. Mitchell started slowly, but if there’s one thing you know about him, it’s that bowling full and straight to him is a bad idea on any ground. Especially if that ground is Eden Park where the straight boundary is smaller than 55m. Usama Mir chose to disregard that advice twice in the tenth over, with Mitchell tonking him for two sixes that landed on the sightscreen.
The next 12 balls were a blaze of boundaries as New Zealand plundered 42 runs off them, and while Williamson fell after a half-century which made up in grace what it lacked in explosiveness, it was Mitchell who lit the touchpaper. He would go after Aamer Jamal with similar ferocity as New Zealand set up for the death overs, and take one last bite at Mir in the 16th over, smashing him for three boundaries before finally holing out off Shaheen in the next over.
Chaos up top for Pakistan
Matt Henry put down a sharp chance to let Rizwan off the first ball of the second over, before Ayub let loose with two sixes and a four. But Pakistan’s propensity for self-harm would strike again, as Ayub slipped attempting a run that wasn’t on, and Adam Milne’s direct hit caught him short. Rizwan tried to keep the tempo up with a six off the very next ball as the contest was slowly dragged back down to earth, but the 20,055 that had packed Eden Park got full value for money.
