All-round Pakistan took a 1-Zero lead after beating New Zealand by 5 wickets within the first ODI of the five-match sequence on the Pindi Cricket Stadium on Thursday.
Chasing a goal of 289 runs, Pakistan began their chase in wonderful type and due to the wonderful innings of openers Fakhar Zaman (117) and Imam-ul-Haq (60) and accountable batting, comfortably 5 Achieved it on the lack of wickets. Wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan (42*) within the center order.
Openers Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq made a superb begin and shared a 124-run partnership for the primary wicket. Imam was the primary batsman to be dismissed by Ish Sodhi after scoring 21.2 runs in his private better of 60 off 65 balls, which included 5 fours and a six.
After that, Fakhar and captain Babar Azam added 90 extra runs to the entire, after which Babar gifted his wicket to Milne. The skipper (49) fell one run in need of finishing his half-century. Shan Masood couldn’t contribute a lot then and misplaced his wicket cheaply (simply 1 run). Ravindra then removed Fakhar in 42.2 overs. The opener performed an innings of 117 runs in 114 balls with the assistance of 13 fours and a six.
After that, dependable batsmen Mohammad Rizwan and Mohammad Nawaz despatched the Pakistan group residence safely with 9 balls to spare. Rizwan scored an unbeaten 42 off 34 balls, which included six fours and a six. For New Zealand, Adam Milne took two wickets for 60 runs whereas Blair Tickner, Ish Sodhi and Rachin Ravindra acquired one wicket every.
Earlier, after Will Younger’s 86, Daryl Mitchell scored a superb century to take New Zealand to a commendable rating of 288/7. The visiting aspect made a cautious begin as their openers added 48 runs within the first 10 overs earlier than Haris Rauf dismissed Chad Bowes, who was struggling for 18 off 26 balls. After his dismissal, opening batsman Younger shook palms with Mitchell. And punished the hosts’ bowlers with a wonderful 152-run partnership for the second wicket.
The pair dominated the bowlers with clear placing till Younger was dismissed by Shadab within the 27th over, simply 14 runs in need of a worthy century. He hit eight fours and two sixes in his sensible innings of 86 runs in 78 balls. Nevertheless, Mitchell held agency and made some transient however essential partnerships with Tom Latham (20) and Mark Chapman (15) earlier than lastly being dismissed within the 47th over. Above. He scored 113 off 115 balls for New Zealand, hitting 11 fours and a six.
After his departure, Henry Nicholls (20*) and Rachin Ravindra (9) made precious contributions on the backend to maintain New Zealand on monitor for an honest whole. Naseem Shah led the bowling assault with two wickets for simply 29 runs, whereas Haris Rauf and Shaheen Shah Afridi additionally took the identical variety of wickets however had been costly. However, Shadab Khan may decide up one. The 2 sides will now tackle one another within the second match of the five-match ODI sequence, scheduled on April 29.
factors in a nutshell
Pakistan 291-5 (Fakhar Zaman 117, Imam-ul-Haq 60, Mohammad Rizwan 42*; Adam Milne 2-60) beat New Zealand 288-7 (Daryl Mitchell 113, Will Younger 86; Naseem Shah 2-29, Shaheen Afridi 2-5) ) beat 63, Haris Rauf 2-65) beat 5 wickets.