Auckland: Jacob Duffy four-fer on debut set up New Zealand’s comfortable five-wicket win in the T20I series opener against Pakistan in Auckland on Friday (December 18).
The victory meant that the hosts managed to snap the five-match winning streak of Pakistan against them in the 20-over format, which had started at the same venue back in January 2018.
Duffy’s three early blows in the powerplay had Pakistan reeling at 20 for 3 after four overs, a setback they never really recovered from. Scott Kuggeleijn returned match figures of 3 for 27 to restrict the visitors to a manageable 153/9, despite a brief fightback from Shadab Khan and Faheem Ashraf.
Tim Seifert led New Zealand’s reply with a well-composed fifty, aided by Mark Chapman’s brisk cameo that helped the hosts overhaul the target with seven balls to spare despite the early jitters induced by an equally impressive fast-bowling display from the tourists.
Any prevailing doubts about New Zealand’s inexperienced bowling line-up were dispelled right away by debutant Jacob Duffy. The hosts rested a bunch of their premier fast bowlers following the Test series win over West Indies, paving way for Duffy’s debut in Auckland.
And the 26-year-old justified his selection with three wickets in his opening spell inside the powerplay, and a 4-33 overall soiled only by the desperate few hits by Pakistan at the fag end.
Duffy made an immediate mark – taking only four balls to pick his maiden T20I wicket. Both Abdullah Shafique and the experienced campaigner Mohammad Hafeez were done in by the extra bounce, popping easy catches for Mark Chapman.
In between the two strikes was Rizwan, who was undone by the pressure built up by dots. Rizwan gave the charge and Duffy cleverly dragged his line wide, forcing an edge off the toe-end of the bat for Glenn Phillips to grab a sharp catch at mid-off.
To make matters worse for Pakistan, Kuggeleijn made it three in three for New Zealand as he caught Hailder Ali off his own bowling to reduce the visitors to 20 for 4 at the start of the fifth over after they’d opted to bat.