The host nation New Zealand bowled out the visitor Pakistan for 105 after opting to bowl in the first Twenty20 International in Wellington. Tim Southee was the pick of the bowlers with 3/13 and he was well backed-up by Seth Rance who chipped in with 3/26. For Pakistan, Babar Azam was the top scorer with 41 runs facing 41 balls while Hasan Ali was the only other batsman to get into double digits in another woeful display. Ranked second in T20s, Pakistan will be aiming to improve their fortunes in the tour of New Zealand, where they struggled to come to grips with the conditions during the ODI series. However, the Kiwis, who are placed at the top of the T20 rankings, go into this three-match series as the overwhelming series. New Zealand have had resounding success at home in the recent past after blanking West Indies in Tests, ODIs and T20 and following it up with a 5-0 thrashing of Pakistan in the 50 over matches. The focus in the New Zealand – Pakistan series now shifts towards the shortest format and like West Indies, they too would hope that a chance in format results in change in fortunes. Pakistan did pose a decent challenge in the final two ODIs and they would like to continue that in the T20s with the unpredictability of format going well with the unpredictability of the team. The fact that Pakistan are second ranked T20 side also highlights their stature.