Haris Rauf’s four-fer and a much-needed partnership between Fakhar Zaman and Saim Ayub led Pakistan to bag 88-run win over New Zealand in the first T20I at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
Pakistan lost opening pair of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan inside the batting powerplay with 30 runs on the board. Coming to bat at number three Fakhar was joined by young Saim Ayub, who displayed excellent performance with bat. He smashed six fours and two sixes to make 47 off 28 before he was dismissed by Kiwis bowler. He unfortunately failed to hit his maiden fifty but his thrilling game has shadowed it.
Skipper Babar Azam also heaped praise on Saim Ayub, saying he and Fakhar did not let the team feel under pressure.
The left-arm batter dished out beautifully architected shots, including an exception six on Adam Milne’s 147 Kph delivery that has won the hearts of Twitter users.