Shaheen Afridi's debut as Pakistan's T20 captain ended in a 46-run defeat against New Zealand in the series opener in Auckland on Friday.

Put into bat, New Zealand racked up 226-8 as Pakistan's new-look attack struggled to protect the ground's notoriously short boundaries, conceding 21 fours and 11 sixes.

Seamer Abbas Afridi impressed in his first international appearance in any format with 3-34 off four overs.

While speaking in the post-match press conference, Pakistan bowling coach Umar Gul lauded his nephew, Abbas Afridi’s debut performance.

"It's a proud moment for Abbas, for me, and for our entire family. First, I represented Pakistan, and then Abbas did, so it is a big proud moment for our family,” Gul said.

“When the first over happened, and Shaheen got the first wicket, we realized that the ball was gripping a bit, and we should not let it go forward. So, in that same over, I went to Abbas. I think he was at either third man or fine leg and I told him that here you need to hit the hard length because the boundaries in front are shorter, and you should use your square boundaries. I told Abbas to convey this to the other bowlers as well, to hit the hard length, try a bit more with slow balls, and use variations. I think his strength lies in this, and the reason for playing him is that his variation is very effective. He continued with his strength of variation and took a wicket at the right moment, but unfortunately, the end result was not in our favor," he added.

Pakistan's run chase capitulated after Babar Azam was the seventh wicket to fall in the 17th over, with the former captain having accelerated to 57 off 35 balls to keep his side in contention.

“If you look at Babar’s strike rate and the way he batted today, it is good sign for Pakistan because he must have gotten confidence from this inning. The ball is coming onto his bat but luck was not in his favour in previous innings. I am sure his runs today would have boosted his confidence,” Gul said.

There were starts for openers Saim Ayub (27) and Mohammad Rizwan (25) but Azam struggled to find support from his teammates before being caught at cover by Kane Williamson off Ben Sears' bowling.

“The way Saim Ayub started, it was unfortunate that he got run-out,” Gul said.