Watch: Afridi’s drop catch denies Mohammad Amir a wicket

Mohammad Amir international return was relatively low-key but full of frustration. He had Kane Williamson dropped off his bowling in the fourth over, then had another straightforward catch spilled towards the end of the match. He eventually took the wicket of Matt Henry in the penultimate over to finish with figures of 1 for 31 from four overs against New Zealand in the 1st of the 3-match T20I series in Auckland.

In his first over  having sent his first ball down the leg side, he bowled sharp inswing at the right-handers, veering a little too far down the leg side, perhaps, but regularly breaching 140kph. It wasn’t quite Amir at his best; just the kind of bowling that prompted coach Waqar Younis to later say that his return was neither great nor poor, but “pretty okay”.

In his second over, Amir got an abrupt refresher on what being a Pakistan fast bowler is all about. Having induced a mistake from one of the form batsmen in the world, Amir watched Williamson’s mishit sail towards cover, where skipper Shahid Afridi settled beautifully beneath it, before proceeding, of course, to drop the catch.

Amir kept his cool on that occasion, as teammates sent sympathetic applause in his direction. He was less impressed with Sohaib Maqsood, who dropped another straightforward catch in the 17th over. Amir let out a curt yell of frustration, before regaining his composure. Amir though will be happy that there were more cheers than boos for him from the fans at Eden Park upon his much discussed international return. The fact that his team won the match must have made him feel good and his spell must have given him confidence for future matches.

Watch: Afridi’s drop catch denies Mohammad Amir a wicket:

Shahid Afridi’s drop denies Mohammad Amir’s 1st wicket after his International return. #NZvPAKpic.twitter.com/jhUEYiGyV8

— Sampath (@SAMPATH_B24) January 15, 2016

How is the second game expected to play? Check out – NZ v Pak 2nd T20I Preview: Hosts look to bounce back from a rare defeat