NZ VS PAK - 1st T20I, Pakistan tour of New Zealand, 2020-21

This was fun. And this is what you get with Pakistan -- fighting from nowhere, losing from nowhere. It builds up perfectly to what should be an exciting few weeks coming up with New Zealand on some dream level of momentum. So this was me, Vineet Anantharaman scribbling it out for you in the company of Akshay Maanay, Pradeep Krishnamurthy and our scorer, Praveen. Until Sunday, and a few kilometers away in Hamilton, on behalf of all of us, ta ta!!

Mitchell Santner | New Zealand skipper: The energy in the field was outstanding. Probably a change in the team going into the next game, but we'll take this confidence. We are looking at the World Cup in India next year. And we'll have around four changes in our next game with the Test stars coming back in.

Shadab Khan | Pakistan captain: We did exceptionally well towards the backend but we lost too many wickets upfront. It is very difficult to recover when you lose wickets in the powerplay. The all rounders did well to give us a total. It was a bit two paced surface and difficult for the batsmen. We looked a bit rusty today, no practice before coming into this game but we have played a game now and should perform better in the next game. There will be a bit of turn there (Hamilton) and will be good for the spinners.

Jacob Duffy | Player of the Match: Awesome (feeling). It was daunting, always is when playing at Eden Park. There was (nerves) but once the first ball was gone you relax a bit. The amount of messages I have received is pretty cool and a very proud moment for me.

22:21 Local Time, 09:21 GMT, 14:51 IST: And New Zealand continue their winning summer. 1-0. For all the fight that Pakistan put up, and boy, it was really tight, there's only so much you can do when you're reduced to 20/4. Their quicks bowled their hearts out on what was predominantly a batting belter, but again, blame it on 20/4. The Kiwis came up with decent contributions all through, with Seifert smashing it around for a fifty, Phillips helping him rebuild after the initial wobble, and then Chapman, Neesham and Santner making sure they kept their heads. Pakistan kept clawing all through, building pressure, picking wickets regularly, and Shadab's captaincy was rather impressive. But again, 20/4 doesn't give you anything in the tank. Perhaps that Ashraf dropped catch could've/should've/would've made a difference. Stick around, the presentations are here ..

Riaz to Santner, SIX, hooks, hooks, and hooks away with some audacity. That's how you seal deals. Riaz fires in another bumper at the neck, which Santner walks well into and swats away over fine leg

Riaz to Santner, no run, 135.2kph, hard good length, on off. Santner walks across, heaves, misses, and takes it on his pads

Riaz to Santner, no run, sharp bouncer. 134.3kph. Awkwardly climbing on Santner's pull, and flying over

Riaz to Santner, 2 runs, full again, Santner manages to throw his bat out and carve it through the covers

Riaz to Santner, no run, wide reversing yorker. Santner wants a one-blow-finish, so he swings, but yea, misses

Wahab Riaz [3.0-0-37-0] is back into the attack

Shaheen Afridi to Santner, 1 run, gives himself room, Afridi follows him in. And they settle it with a jab down to long-on

Looks like Neesham's rolled his ankle over while sliding his bat at the non-striker's end. This is what you get with drop-in cut pitches, which end up staying uneven with the square, causing these slippages.

Shaheen Afridi to Neesham, legbyes, 1 run, a charity review this: Pakistan send it up for the LBW. Neesham shuffles, flicks, misses, and runs it off his pad down to fine leg. It was a yorker, tailing back in so much so that it pitches down leg as well from the over the wicket angle. Think where the ball would've gone. Think!

Shaheen Afridi to Neesham, SIX, he's not brought his KXIP DNA here, he's finishing it off in a hurry. Under the length, full blooded bat swing, and boom. Over cow corner

Shaheen Afridi to Neesham, no run, cutter, good length, foxy, past Neesham's poke

Shaheen Afridi to Neesham, wide, 135.7kph, bouncer, too high, but no, don't blame Afridi; this is smart thinking

Shaheen Afridi to Neesham, no run, length, on the stumps, knocked defensively down the pitch

Shaheen Afridi to Neesham, SIX, 135.3kph, feeds the slot -- full, half volley, and Neesham slices it powerfully with a lot of bottom hand over the bowler's head. It's a very flat strike, and has smashed the cushions on the full

21 runs | 18 balls. Two lefties. Looks like Santner's jammed his left hand's index finger with that bouncer. He's getting it bandaged. Okay, he doesn't need to, but will Shadab go left-field and give himself a bowl?