Sarfraz takes Pakistan home in the 1st T20I against New Zealand - After a gruelling test series Pakistan and New Zealand teams were to face each other in a Twenty 20 series which comprised of only 2 matches. It was a series which had a good amount of potential as both the teams are known as the T20 specialists. The 1st match of the series was played at the Dubai International cricket stadium. After winning the toss the home team decided to field first.
Batting first the visitors didn’t get a good start as they lost 3 quick wickets at a score of 15 runs only. Martin Guptill was the only survivor in the top order and he scored 32 runs before losing his wicket in the 10th over leaving his team struggling at 61/4. Corey Anderson and Luke Ronchi were the two players who saved the visitors skin scoring 48 and 33 respectively. Their innings was more of a cautious one and it helped the visitors reach a score of 135 runs at the end 20 overs. Sohail Tanvir and Mohammad Irfan took 2 wickets each.
The home side had a small target to chase as 136 in a T20 are considered as an easy one. The openers Sarfraz Ahmed and Awais Zia provided their team a good start as they together scored 51 runs in 8 overs for the 1st wicket. The New Zealand then for their great fielding efforts came back strong taking two wickets in as a run out. Sarfraz had other intentions and he remained calm and scored the runs with a cautious approach. The match was taken till the last over by the New Zealanders but at the end Pakistan won the match with 5 balls remaining. Sarfraz remained not out at a score of 76 and was named as the man of the match for his brilliant batting maturity.