Pakistan-New Zealand 5th T20l Series to start from Thursday

PESHAWAR, Apr 17 (APP): A series of five T20 International matches will be played between Pakistan and New Zealand from April 18 with the first match played on Thursday at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium at 7:30 PM.
A lucky series of 5th T20 International matches will be played between Pakistan and New Zealand from April 18. The first T20 International will be played on Thursday at 7:30 PM in Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

The second and third matches will also be played in the same Stadium on April 20 and 21. Fourth T20I match will be played on April 25 and the fifth T20I will be played on April 27 at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
Good matches are expected between the two countries. Pakistan will have the advantage of home ground and local spectators, but the New Zealand team is also a tough team and Pakistan will need to work hard to win the series. It is worth mentioning here that New Zealand in January this year defeated Pakistan on their home ground by 4-1.

Shaheen Shah Afridi led Pakistan in this series. The team has been announced. Two new players Usman Khan and Irfan Khan have been included in the Pakistan team for the first time. Pakistan cricket team consists of Babar Azam (captain), Saeem Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan, Usman Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Irfan Khan Niazi, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Zaman Khan, Muhammad Amir, Abbas Afridi, Osama Mir, Fakhr Zaman and Abrar Ahmed. Reserve players of the team include Haseebullah, Muhammad Ali, Sahibzada Farhan, Agha Salman and Wasim Jr.
The New Zealand team includes Michael Bracewell, Tom Blundell, Mark Chapman, Josh Clarkson, Jacob Duffy, Dean Foxcroft, Ben Lister, Cole McConchie, Zack Fowlkes, Jimmy Neesham, Will O’Rourke, Tim Robinson, Ben Sears, Tim Seifert, and Ish Sodhi.
So far 39 T20 International matches have been played between Pakistan and New Zealand in which New Zealand has won 17 matches and lost 21 matches. In total, New Zealand have played 194 T20 International matches. Out of which NZ won 99 matches and lost 80. On the other hand, Pakistan has played 224 international T20 matches. In which Pakistan won 135 matches and lost 80 matches. Pakistan’s highest score against New Zealand in a T20 International is 201 runs for the loss of 4 wickets which was scored by Pakistan on January 25, 2018 at Auckland. New Zealand’s highest score against Pakistan was 226 runs for 8 wickets on January 12, 2024 at Auckland ground.

The lowest score of the innings was scored by Pakistan on 101 runs on January 22 in 2016 at Wellington. The New Zealand team was bowled out by 80 runs against Pakistan on December 30 in 2010 at Christ Church.
In batting, Babar Azam and New Zealand’s MS Chapman are the only batsmen who have scored centuries. Chapman played an innings of 104 runs and Babar Azam 101 runs and both were not out. The highest individual score after these two is Muhammad Hafeez when he scored 99 not out at Hamilton on December 20, 2020.
The second number on the table is Muhammad Rizwan when he scored two days later at Napier on December 22, 2020. An innings of 89 runs was played at the venue. New Zealand’s Guptill at number three played an unbeaten innings of 87 runs at the Hamilton venue on January 17 in 2016.

Babar Azam has the highest number of runs in T20 International matches and is on the first place in the batting table. He has scored 755 runs at an average of 44.41 in 21 matches against New Zealand. Babar Azam has scored one century and seven fifties.
Kane Williamson of New Zealand has scored 667 runs at an average of 39.23 in 21 matches against Pakistan. In which the best innings is 72 runs. Williamson has scored six half-centuries against Pakistan. The third number is Muhammad Rizwan of Pakistan who scored 622 runs at an average of 38.87 against New Zealand in 19 matches. In which the best innings is 98 runs not out. Muhammad Hafeez from Pakistan has scored 563 runs at an average of 37.53 in 18 matches in which the best innings is 99 runs not out. Mohammad Hafeez has scored three fifties.
New Zealand’s Tim Southee has taken the most wickets on the bowling table. He bowled 38 Pakistan batsmen at an average of 17.05, in which the best bowling is five wickets for 18 runs. The second number on this table is Pakistan’s Harris Rauf who dismissed 32 players in 16 matches. The best bowling was four wickets for 18 runs. The third place is for New Zealand lanky fast bowler Adam Melne who took 26 catches in seventeen matches, after him Pakistan Shaheen Afridi who got 25 wickets in 17 matches. The best bowling is three wickets for 20 runs. Shaheen’s father-in-law Shahid Khan Afridi is at the fifth place, who has hunted 21 NZ batsmen at an average of 18.47. His best bowling is four wickets for 14 runs.