Watch: Mohammad Amir starred on his return to international cricket, returning figures of 2-13 off three overs and taking a wicket with the second ball of his spell.

Only two balls were possible of Amir’s official first match back for Pakistan after a four-year absence, with the speedster bowling neither of them. Amir reversed his decision to retire from international cricket last month after ‘positive discussions’ with the PCB, and was subsequently selected for the series against New Zealand.

With the rain that washed-out the first T20I gone, Amir came on to bowl in the fourth over of today’s (April 20) match. Dean Foxcroft guided Amir’s first ball for a single to bring Tim Robinson on strike. Robinson had had a difficult outing in the first match, bowled by Shaheen Shah Afridi from the second and last ball of the match on debut.

Facing up to his first ball from Amir, Robinson stepped outside his leg stump looking to play the ball into the off side. However, with Amir having taken the pace off, he mistimed it, and toe-ended it straight to Iftikhar Ahmed at short-cover.

After that wicket, New Zealand spiralled. Amir took the next wicket (Foxcroft holing out to Babar Azam), and New Zealand collapsed to 90 all-out in 18.1 overs. Pakistan cruised to victory by eight wickets, with Mohammad Rizwan scoring an unbeaten 45 off 34 balls.

Watch: Mohammad Amir stars on international return

Comeback man Mohammad Amir stars! 🙌

Ace pacers led the charge in the Powerplay ☄️#PAKvNZ | #AaTenuMatchDikhawan pic.twitter.com/XITH4G4cjB

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) April 20, 2024

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