New Zealand have defeated Pakistan in the first match of a series of two Test matches leading by 1-0. New Zealand won by 101 runs.
During the last day of a 5-day Test match, Pakistani batsman Fawad Alam scored a century keeping the nation’s hope alive but soon after his dismissal, the whole team collapsed at 271 runs while chasing the target of 373 runs.
In their first innings, New Zealand made a total of 431 runs while they bowled out Pakistan for 239 runs. For second innings New Zealand declared it at 180 with the loss of five wickets, giving the opponent a target of 373 runs to win the match.
Pakistan lost two early wickets without putting any number on a scoreboard. Azhar Ali(38), Fawad Alam(102) and the captain Muhammad Rizwan(60) helped Pakistan in gaining a winning position but soon their dismissals proved crucial for New Zealand as the remaining batsman were quick to give their wickets.
From New Zealand’s side, Kane Williamson scored 129 runs and BJ Watling scored 73 runs while Pakistani pacer Shaheen Afridi took 4 wickets in NZ’s first inning. In the response, Faheem Ashraf scored 91 runs while the captain Muhammad Rizwan contributed 71 runs in Pakistan’s first inning. Naseem Shah took 3 wickets in NZ’s second innings with Tom Blundell scoring 64 runs followed by Tom Latham (53). Fawad Alam remained a top-scorer in Pakistan’s last inning by contributing 102 runs while five kiwi bowlers took 2 wickets each, helping their team to claim victory.
The second and final Test match between the teams. will start from January 3, 2021.
