PAKISTAN cruised to a comfortable win against New Zealand in the first ODI of the five-match series at Rawalpindi. Daryl Mitchell starred with the bat for New Zealand, scoring an imperious hundred, aided by a belligerent 86 by Will Young.
However, New Zealand failed to get the final impetus to get past the 300 mark. Pakistan, in response, eased to the target, with the help of their in-form top order.
Earlier, Pakistan had won the toss and asked New Zealand to bat, and the Kiwis started off sedately, but a 102-run stand between Daryl Mitchell (113) and Will Young (86), set things up nicely.
Will Young was the first to go, but the untimely wicket of Mitchell in the 47th over, and regular wickets in the slog overs prevented the Kiwis to get past the 300-run mark. Naseem Shah was the pick of the bowlers, conceding only 29 runs and picking up 2 wickets in his spell of ten overs.
Brief Scores: New Zealand 288-7 in 50 overs (Daryl Mitchell 113, Will Young 86, Naseem Shah 2-29, Shaheen Afridi 2-63) lost to Pakistan 291-5 in 50 overs(Fakhar Zaman 117, Imam-ul-Haq 60, Adam Milne 2-60) by 5 w
Pakistan started the chase of 289 solidly, despite the Zaman edge that went unnoticed off Milne in the second over. The left-handed pair of Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman creamed the bowlers all around the park in a century stand, with each of the batters getting individual fifties in quick time.
Imam was eventually trapped by the wrist spin of Sodhi for 60, but New Zealand had stepped out of the frying pan and into the fire – Babar Azam had walked out to the middle after a 124-run opening stand, and stroked the bowlers with utmost ease all around the park.
Babar nicked behind for a fluent 49, falling just short of a well-deserved fifty, but Pakistan were well on their way, with Zaman continuing to milk the bowlers with ease.
Shan Masood was the only one who had a laborious stay at the crease, before falling to Adam Milne, bringing in Mohammad Rizwan to the crease, who looked like he was in a hurry. Rizwan targeted the spin of Rachin Ravindra to get a move on, and looked positive, before a brief period of panic at the other end…
Zaman had fallen for 117 to Rachin Ravindra, and Agha Salman fell soon after, bringing in Mohammad Nawaz. However, Rizwan remained positive and steady at the other end, ensuring victory by sweeping Rachin Ravindra for the winning boundary to deep midwicket.
The facile win ensured Pakistan went 1-0 up the five-match ODI series, the second of which will be played at the same venue, Rawalpindi, on Saturday (April 29). (Cricbuzz)
