Twitter Reactions: Fakhar Zaman’s century along with Mohammad Rizwan’s blistering show guides Pakistan to beat New Zealand by five wickets
The opening partnership of 124 runs between Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq set the tone of the match for Pakistan.
After suffering back-to-back defeats in the final two T20Is of the series, Pakistan have once again come back to winning ways as the Babar Azam-led side defeated New Zealand by five wickets to win the first ODI of the five-match series. Chasing a target of 289 runs, the Men in Green started really well and showed a lot of composure as the Kiwi bowlers ran out of options in the middle. Adam Milne and Rachin Ravindra proved to be expensive as the home side chased down the required total with nine balls to spare.
Meanwhile, in the first innings, New Zealand were in total control of the match. After Chad Bowes (18 runs off 26 deliveries) walked back to the pavilion, Will Young and Daryl Mitchell took responsibility as their partnership of 102 runs helped the visiting team to be in the driver’s seat. Notably, Young went on to post 86 runs off 78 deliveries while Mitchell once again smacked a cracking century as he finished on 113 runs off 115 deliveries. However, after the duo got out, the middle order failed to keep the scoreboard ticking and that’s one of the reasons behind New Zealand’s downfall in the first ODI.
Meanwhile, with the ball, youngster Naseem Shah was terrific as he conceded only 29 runs in 10 overs. The 20-year-old also picked up two wickets and so did Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf. However, the last two went on to leak more than six runs per over.
When it comes to the chase, openers Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq gave Pakistan a brilliant start. Their partnership of 124 runs set the tone of the match as Zaman later went on to register a terrific century while Imam got out after scoring 60. Skipper Babar Azam started well but went back to the pavilion after scoring 49 runs off 46 deliveries. Meanwhile, just New Zealand were desperate to make a late comeback in the match but Mohammed Rizwan’s blistering knock didn’t allow them as the stumper-batter hit 42* runs off 34 deliveries. This particular knock made all the difference in the end as New Zealand lost the first ODI by five wickets.
Here's how Twitter reacted to Pakistan's brilliant run chase:
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@babarazam25821.7K1.6K773@iamAhmadshahzad2.2K56@SAfridiOfficial@SAfridiOfficial3.3K234376112905@WahabViki1.7K495K81@KamiAkmal231.2K11Download Our App