New Zealand
Fakhar Zaman smashed Ish Sodhi for a six early on in his innings•AFP/Getty Images
Sears and O’Rourke hold their own
There’s a Super Smash feel to the New Zealand squad in Pakistan, and that was particularly true of the seam-bowling duo of Sears and O’Rourke. Sears had played ten T20Is before this tour while O’Rourke was yet to make his debut, but the pair was instrumental in halting Pakistan’s early charge from the get-go.
While Pakistan targeted Jacob Duffy, O’Rourke struck in his first over, drawing Babar into a cover drive, and the extra bounce saw him paddle it to cover-point on the full.
He also dismissed the other opener, Saim Ayub, who was put down in the first over.
Sears kept New Zealand plugging away as he prised out Usman Khan to leave Pakistan in trouble. The pair’s ability to keep the runs quiet at the same time allowed Michael Bracewell to turn to them whenever pressure needed to be applied, a motif that continued right through the innings. The pair was brought later, and gave their captain the wickets of Iftikhar and Fakhar to kill the game off, combining for figures of 8-0-54-5.
Danyal Rasool is ESPNcricinfo’s Pakistan correspondent. @Danny61000