![PAK vs NZ 2023 [WATCH]: Matt Henry stuns Pakistan batters with a sensational hat-trick in first T20I](https://crickettimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Matt-Henrys-hattrick-wickets.jpg "PAK vs NZ 2023 [WATCH]: Matt Henry stuns Pakistan batters with a sensational hat-trick in first T20I")
New Zealand locked horns with Pakistan in the first T20I of the five-match series at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Friday (April 14). The Men in Green emerged victorious in the contest by huge 88 runs. Although Pakistan won the series opener, what caught the attention of the world was New Zealand bowler Matt Henry’s brilliant hat-trick in the game.
Winning the toss and electing to bat first, Pakistan got off to a shaky start and lost both their openers with just 30 runs on the board. However, Fakhar Zaman and Saim Aiyub then took charge and bailed the team out of danger, scoring 47 runs each for their side. But as soon as the batting duo of Fakhar and Aiyub departed, the wickets started falling for the host nation, and they were eventually bundled out for 182 in 19.5 overs.
On the other hand, Matt Henry was the standout performer for the visiting side as he bagged a brilliant hat-trick for his nation and became only the fourth player to achieve the feat for New Zealand in the T20I format.
The first wicket for Henry came on the fifth ball of the 13th over, where he dismissed Shadab Khan as the latter ended up edging the short off-length delivery from the Kiwi pacer to the wicketkeeper. Soon after the wicket of Shadab, Henry once again struck a similar dismissal and sent Iftikhar Ahmed back to the pavilion on the final ball of the over.
Returning to bowl the 19th over, Henry trapped Shaheen Afridi on the very first delivery and etched his name into the history books. Shaheen was caught at the deep mid-wicket in a combined catching effort from Daryl Mitchell and Chad Bowes near the boundary rope.
Here’s the video:
Shadab Khan ☝️
Iftikhar Ahmed ☝️
Shaheen Afridi ☝️A hat-trick for Matt Henry in the first T20I at the GSL. #PAKvNZ | #CricketMubarak pic.twitter.com/h6bZP6O1hM
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) April 14, 2023
As far as the result of the match is concerned, Henry’s hattrick went in vain as New Zealand failed to chase the set target and lost to Pakistan by a massive margin of 88 runs.
