Rain wipes out first Pakistan-New Zealand T20 after simply two balls

New Zealand skipper Michael Bracewell gained the toss, which had additionally been delayed by half-hour, and opted to bat however no motion was doable for two-and-a-half hours.

Umpires Ahsan Raza and Aleem Dar then introduced a five-over-a-side recreation at 10:10pm (9:10 GMT).

Paceman Shaheen Shah Afridi conceded two leg-byes to debutant Tim Robinson off the primary ball earlier than bowling the batsman with a pointy supply off the following.

However as quickly because the Pakistan fielders began celebrating the wicket, the rain returned to power an abandonment.

Quick bowler Mohammad Amir returned to worldwide cricket after practically 4 years, having come out of retirement final month, however his participation was restricted to only fielding.

The 32-year-old retired in December 2020 after being dropped from the facet however modified his thoughts final month and determined to restart his profession, which had already been stalled by a match-fixing ban in 2010.

Pakistan handed T20I caps to batsman Usman Khan, spinner Abrar Ahmed and all-rounder Muhammad Irfan Khan, whereas Robinson debuted for New Zealand.

The remaining matches are in Rawalpindi on April 20 and 21 and in Lahore on April 25 and 27.

The collection offers an opportunity to each groups to check their bench energy forward of the Twenty20 World Cup to be held in June in the US and the West Indies.

New Zealand are with out 9 key gamers, together with skipper Kane Williamson, who’re taking part in within the ongoing Indian Premier League.

Groups
Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Usman Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Amir, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi

New Zealand: Michael Bracewell (captain), Mark Chapman, Josh Clarkson, Jacob Duffy, Dean Foxcroft, Ben Lister, Jimmy Neesham, Tim Robinson, Ben Sears, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi

Umpires: Ahsan Raza (PAK) and Aleem Dar (PAK) Television umpire: Faisal Afridi (PAK) Match referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM)