Pakistan vs New Zealand Live Score, T20 World Cup 2021: Pakistan restrict Kiwis to 134/8

From 13 overs onwards, Pak’s pacers bowled all 7 overs:

Haris Rauf: 3/16 in 3 oversHassan Ali: 0/11 in 2 oversShaheen Afridi: 1/13 in 2 overs

Doesn’t get better than that in T20s. Absolutely World Class.

— Rehan Ulhaq (@Rehan_ulhaq) October 26, 2021

After 4 overs,Pakistan 22/0 ( Mohammad Rizwan (W) 12 , Babar Azam (C) 8)

Pakistan slowly upping the ante

Boult doesn't start the over well. Darts the first short which is pulled away for a four. A dot later, he drifts one down the leg side and amid the appeal for a caught behind, the umpire calls it a WIDE! Boult then follows up with four dot balls to finish off the over. The last one was slightly back of length, Rizwan missed his pull and got hit on the box. 5 runs off the Boult over.

Southee then starts the over well with just a single off the first three balls. But then he drops one short and Rizwan pulls it powerfully to fine leg for a four. Another couple of pulls follow, one for a couple and one for a single. 8 runs off the Southee over. 

After 2 overs,Pakistan 9/0 ( Mohammad Rizwan (W) 3 , Babar Azam (C) 5)

A decent start from the Kiwis.

After a couple of tight deliveries which yield just a single. Santner delivers one a touch wide, Babar latches on to it and lofts it over extra cover for four. The next three deliveries yield three more singles. 7 runs off it.

Southee then bowls a tight over and gives away just two runs. The first two balls were dots and then he bowled a WIDE down the leg side. The next one is pulled powerfully but just for a single. The next two balls are again dots.

In the last T20 World Cup, Haris Rauf was not even a professional cricketer. He went to Gujranwala with his friend where he was picked by Lahore Qalandars during the trials. Then Dale Steyn got injured in Big Bash and Melbourne called him. Since then he's been UNSTOPPABLE!

— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) October 26, 2021

Pakistan’s bowling has been exceptional

— Jofra Archer (@JofraArcher) October 26, 2021

Back for the chase. Pakistan openers Babar Azam and Rizwan are out in the middle. Santner will start off proceedings.

After 20 overs,New Zealand 134/8 ( Ish Sodhi 2 , )

Pakistan restrict New Zealand to 134/8. Haris cleans up Santner off the final ball of the innings. He finishes with figures of 4/22. Rauf ends it well for Pakistan. After a single off the first ball, Babar Azam drops Santner and they get two. A bye followed and a single too. Santner then thumped one through point for a four. But Rauf ended it well cleaning up Santner off the final ball to restrict NZ to 134/8.

After 19 overs,New Zealand 125/7 ( Mitchell Santner 0 , Ish Sodhi 0)

Pakistan have been brilliant in the last few overs.

Brilliant from Rauf. He's hit the deck hard, bowled those hard lengths and varied his pace well. He got the wickets of Conway and Phillips in the 18th over and gave away just 3 runs.

Shaheen bowled the penultimate over, the first was a dot the next one was very full on the pads, Seifert missed his flick. An LBW appeal was turned down. Pakistan opted for a review but the impact was outside leg. After a leg bye, Seifert got across and scooped one wide of the short fine leg fielder. Shaheen though bounced back the next ball and removed Seifert with a slower ball. Just 6 runs and a wicket off the Shaheen over. 9 runs and 3 wickets ott the last two.

OUT! Shaheen sends back Seifert. It's the slower one, full on middle and leg, Seifert goes for a wild swing, ends up getting a top edge to point where the fielder makes no mistake.

New Zealand's tactics, from naming the squad to their order tonight, are...not easy to justify logically

— Ben Jones (@benjonescricket) October 26, 2021