Pakistan have a mountain to climb after emphatic T20 series defeat against New Zealand

No one said it was going to be easy. But even the most pragmatic Pakistan cricket fans would not have expected such a painful beginning to a supposedly new era in their white-ball cricket. Barring one match in the five-match T20 series in New Zealand which went their way, and in some style one must say, Pakistan struggled to compete as the hosts romped to a 4-1 series triumph on Wednesday. It was the same story in the fifth T20 in Wellington as Pakistan struggled batting first, crawling to 128-9. Captain Salman Agha, leading a new-look team filled with promising youngsters, scored a fifty but it was not even close to being enough. New Zealand chased down the target in exactly 10 overs with eight wickets in hand. Player of the series Tim Seifert (97 from 38 balls) completed the match by smashing experienced spinner Shadab Khan for four sixes, taking his match tally to 10. Even for neutral fans, it was painful to watch Pakistan's young team be brushed aside by a New Zealand team missing many of their first-choice players due to the ongoing IPL. Granted, Pakistan were expected to experience some difficulty having embarked upon a new path in their T20 journey, moving away from the tried and tested Babar Azam and Mohamad Rizwan and giving younger talent an opportunity. But the manner of defeat in the New Zealand T20 series raises more concern than hope. The team in green got bowled out for 91 in the first match, conceded 200 twice, and did not look like containing New Zealand at any point, barring the third match. There in Auckland, an audacious century by inexperienced opener Hasan Nawaz saw Pakistan chase down 205 in just 16 overs. That match not only kept the series alive but also suggested Pakistan were warming up to the modern ethos of T20 batting. In the next match they were given another 200-plus target but were bowled out for 105. The lopsided contest ended on Wednesday the same way it had started - Pakistan failing to get any momentum batting first and posting a sub-par total. Seamer Jacob Duffy (2-18) started the rout when he removed Hasan for his third duck in the series, capping a strange outing for the opener. The swing and bounce generated by New Zealand's frontline pacers was too much for Pakistan and they quickly found themselves 52-5. Captain Agha and Shadab put on 54 for the sixth wicket to add some respectability to the total. Shadab made 28 off 20 balls while Salman hit 51 from 39. Both fell to all-rounder Jimmy Neesham, who finished with impressive figures of 5-22, his maiden five-wicket haul in T20Is. Then Seifert ended the contest in double quick time, even threatening to score a century while chasing just 129. After the match, captain Salman said the series was a steep learning curve. "We had some positives and we will take away that. Hasan batted well, Sufiyan (Muqeem, spinner) did well. We know it's a young side. We will give them more games and when they have experience they will come good," the captain said. It is the path ahead that looks treacherous for Pakistan. The main events on their radar are the Asia Cup in September and the T20 World Cup early next year in India and Sri Lanka. Wednesday's series defeat is just the latest in a long list of painful setbacks for Pakistan, which includes embarrassing performances in the last two ICC events - the T20 World Cup and Champions Trophy - and regular defeats to non-Test playing nations. While young players and teams need to be given as much time as they need, Pakistan must be careful as they can't afford to keep losing in the name of learning. Already, there is a fear in Pakistan that if the T20 team, which is currently ranked seventh in the world, continues to lose, they could face the ignominy of playing World Cup qualifiers in the near future. While that prospect is a long way away and unlikely to materialise, the fact that conversations like that are being had means it might be time to acknowledge the scale of their problems, while somehow still being patient with a young team.

Pakistan have a mountain to climb after emphatic T20 series defeat against New Zealand

Eight-wicket loss in fifth T20 caps a series that had only a handful of positives for team in green