“We were not up to the mark” - Salman Agha reacts to Pakistan’s nine-wicket loss to New Zealand in the first T20I

Pakistan’s new T20I captain, Salman Agha, responded after his team suffered a nine-wicket loss to New Zealand in the first T20I of the five-match T20I series. Surprisingly, senior players Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan were axed from the T20I squad for this series.

Notably, the Pakistan team had three debutants: Hasan Nawaz, Abdul Samad, and pacer Mohammed Ali. Interestingly, Hasan Nawaz and Abdul Samad bagged ducks while Ali failed to scalp a wicket.

Speaking at the post-match presentation ceremony, Salman asserted that the team wasn’t up to the mark. However, this is the time for the team to regroup and hit the drawing board to turn the negatives to positives in the next game.

"It was difficult, we were not up to the mark, but we need to regather (ahead of Dunedin, 2nd T201). They bowled really well, in great areas, and there was a bit of seam movement as well. We will sit down, have a chat and think about the next game. We had three debutants, the more games they play, they will learn more. The new ball does a bit in New Zealand, we have good bowlers and we will look to do well in the next match,” Salman Agha stated.

After New Zealand tasked Pakistan to bat first, the visitors crumbled to 11/4in 4.4 overs. Skipper Salman Agha (18) and Khushdil Shah (32) had put up notable performances, while Jahanad Khan’s 17 propelled Pakistan to 91 runs in 18.4 overs.

Kyle Jamieson scalped a three-fer, while Jacob Duffy picked up an impressive four-wicket haul for New Zealand. Ish Sodhi pocketed two wickets, while Zakary Foulkes picked up one wicket.

New Zealand batters took 10.1 overs to finish off the chase with nine wickets in hand. Tim Seifer smashed 44 runs off 29 balls while Finn Allen (29*) and Tim Robinson (18*) stood not-out in the chase.

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