Mohammad Rizwan, Pakistan’s wicketkeeper and batter, kept his hot streak going with another half-century on Friday in Christchurch. Pakistan won the first T20I tri-series match by 21 runs after amassing 167-5. Keeping up his impressive run, Rizwan scored 78 not out as Pakistan posted 167-5. Then limited their opponents to 146-8. It kicked off a tournament that would last a full week and include New Zealand as one of the participating nations.
Pakistan won the first T20I tri-series match by 21 runs.
It’s being used as a training ground for the next Twenty20 World Cup in Australia by all three of the participating teams. In frigid circumstances at Hagley Oval, the top-ranked T20 hitter in the world. Rizwan batted through the innings, hitting seven fours and two sixes in a 50-ball performance. The 30-year-old continued his momentum from last month’s T20 series against England. In which he scored 316 runs, scoring his 21st half-century in the format. In this style, his 54.34 batting average places him first among the top 150 scores. Following Dhoni is India’s Virat Kohli (50.84).
After pplacing52 runs in the opening stand with skipper Babar Azam (22 off 25 balls). Rizwan’s finest support on the challenging, two-paced surface came from Shan Masood (31 off 22 balls). Bangladesh’s best bowler was Taskin Ahmed (2-25). According to Rizwan, the key to a successful score was patience after being sent in. After a quick 50 for the third wicket off only 34 balls from Liton Das (35) and Afif Hossain (25), Bangladesh’s chase sputtered. Yasir Ali’s (42 not out) late-game batting and Mohammad Wasim’s (3-24) late-game yorker helped the team regain respectability.
Unpredictable weather earlier in the week made the surface difficult. And players from both teams frequently slipped. After a particularly harsh cold front, the grounds crew had to clear the covers and outfield of snow on Thursday morning. While the match was being played, the temperature never dropped below 12 degrees Celsius (54F), making it the earliest home match ever played in New Zealand. On Saturday, New Zealand will take on Pakistan, and on Sunday, they’ll face Bangladesh, both at the same location.
