Finn Allen gave a good account of himself in the T20 series opener against Pakistan at Eden Park in Auckland on Friday, January 12 as he laid the foundation for a huge score for New Zealand. Even though New Zealand lost wicketkeeper batter Devon Conway in the very first over of the innings with the new Pakistan skipper Shaheen Afridi getting the big wicket, Allen ensured that the scoring rate never suffered despite captain Kane Williamson taking a few balls to get set.
Williamson opened his account on his sixth delivery and hence Allen decided to take the matter into his own hands. Shaheen coming in for his second over would have hoped to keep the pressure on from his side but Allen had other ideas. Allen didn't hold himself back as he first sent a half-volley for six on the on side and followed it up with three fours in a row through mid-off, short-fine and then around mid-off again. To cap off an already brilliant over, Allen smashed another six over long-on to accumulate 24 runs off the over before Afridi got a dot on the final delivery.
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Allen got out a couple of overs later but he already had done his job. Daryl Mitchell replaced him at No.4 and he too started off with a bang as he raced off to 31 off 12. Allen and Mitchell's innings gave Williamson to get his eyes in before he too scored a flurry of boundaries to smash a half-century.
Mitchell also got to his fifty before the likes of Glenn Phillips and Mark Chapman provided the finishing touches to help New Zealand get to a strong score of 226 runs. Even though Pakistan have started well with a new opening pair, but it will take some getting from the visitors to chase that score down.
