Black Caps beat Pakistan in first T20 as Mitchell stars, Sodhi takes sharp catch

At Eden Park, Auckland: New Zealand 226-8 (Daryl Mitchell 61 off 27, Kane Williamson 57 off 42, Finn Allen 34 off 15; Abbas Afridi 3-34 off 4; Shaeen Shah Afridi 3-46 off 4) beat Pakistan 180 all out in 18 overs (Babar Azam 57 off 35; Tim Southee 4-25 off 4) by 46 runs. Click here for full scoreboard

A thunderous knock by Indian Premier League millionaire Daryl Mitchell and a stunning one-handed grab by leg-spinner Ish Sodhi helped the Black Caps win the first of five Twenty20 internationals against Pakistan on Friday.

Mitchell made 61 off 27 as the Black Caps posted 226-8, their fifth-highest T20 international total and the third-highest on Eden Park, which was also the highest ever conceded in a T20 by their opponents.

Sodhi then took a sharp return catch off his own bowling, getting down low to his left, as they dismissed Pakistan for 180 in the 18th over to win by 46 runs, with Tim Southee taking 4-25 off four overs in front of a crowd of 20,055 in Auckland.

Apart from Devon Conway’s second-ball golden duck, the Black Caps produced a near-perfect innings after Shaheen Shah Afridi sent them in.

Finn Allen also fell inside the power play, but only after he had made 35 off 15, including 24 off one Afridi over.

The opener’s ballistics allowed Kane Williamson to play a more cautious knock without putting his side under a great deal of pressure.

He was lucky to survive as a couple of catches went down, including a relatively straightforward chance to a backtracking Babar Azam at long-on when he was only on nine off 11.

Williamson took nine overs to raise his strike rate over 100, but accelerated as he brought up his half-century off 40 balls, ultimately departing for 57 off 42 when he was caught by Fakhar Zaman at long-on.

Mitchell then took over, scoring 54 off the last 21 balls he faced to move the Black Caps within reach of 200. He was caught at deep mid-wicket by Saim Ayub when Afridi returned at the death.

Mark Chapman then put the icing on the cake with an innings of 26 off 11, while Adam Milne and Tim Southee both hit useful sixes in the absence of Mitchell Santner, who was ruled out and remained at the team hotel after testing positive for Covid-19 on Friday morning.

Pakistan got off to a flyer as they began what would have been their record T20 chase, racing out to 29-0 at the end of the second over.

The Black Caps then made a crucial breakthrough when Saim Ayub backed up too far and was run out by a sharp Adam Milne for 27 off eight.

A second power play wicket came in the sixth over, when Southee got Mohammed Rizwan to sky one and Devon Conway took ownership of the catch, sending the other opener on his way for 25 off 14.

Pakistan were 64-2 as the fielders moved back, slightly behind the asking rate. That was when Sodhi entered the contest as a bowler, and after going for 13 in his first over, he pulled off a blinder of a one-handed catch in his second to dismiss the dangerous Fakhar for 15 off 10.

At the halfway stage, the visitors were 109-3, needing 116 off 60 deliveries. Sodhi was involved again as they suffered their next setback, when Iftikhar Ahmed top-edged one to him at short fine leg off the bowling of Southee and had to go for 24 off 17.

Babar was looming as the key man for Pakistan and he upped the ante in the 15th over, hitting Ben Sears for back-to-back boundaries to leave his side needing 68 off 30.

Azam Khan fell the next ball, caught well by a retreating Williamson at extra cover off the bowling of Milne, who then had Afridi caught behind two balls later. He should have had a third, but Matt Henry misjudged a catch at deep point and conceded four to Aamer Jamal instead.

Babar began the 17th over with a boundary, but hit the second ball from Ben Sears to Williamson and was sent on his way for 57 off 35, all-but ending his side’s hopes.

The two teams meet again in Hamilton on Sunday night, with the final three matches to follow in the South Island next week.