In the third T20I of the five-match series here at Eden Park on Friday, Pakistan’s T20I captain Salman Ali Agha expressed happiness with the general performance of his side in the nine-wicket victory against New Zealand.
After the hosts in the first two Twenty20 Internationals humbled them, the green shirts had to win the specified matchup to survive in the five-match series. Following his toss win, Pakistan captain Agha placed New Zealand into bat and backed his choice with bowling out New Zealand for 204 in 19.5 overs.
Thanks to a record 44-ball century by Hasan Nawaz and a strong half-century by skipper Agha, the green shirts responded by gently chasing down the challenging 205-run mark for the loss of just one wicket and 24 balls to spare.
Agha praised his team’s all-around performance at the post-match presentation, noting bowlers performed well and got early wickets—qualities he thinks Pakistan lacked before two young players, Nawaz and Mohammad Haris, set the tone for a remarkable run chase.
“I consider it to be quite good. A full proper game, Agha said.
Bowlers began really brilliantly; we missed early wickets (earlier).
“The two children had really good batting skills… Here, I considered 200 as par; this is a decent ground for batting.
Salman Ali Agha added that he had informed his colleagues that, on the venue, known for its limited borders, 205-run was a chasable total.
“We can chase this down, I told my colleagues. The bowlers performed really well; their efforts limited to 200 were commendable.
“We knew it was do or die and we simply wanted to enjoy and now looking forward the next game.”
