Pakistan won the first one-day international against New Zealand by five wickets on Thursday. Fakhar Zaman scored 117 while Imamul Haq and Babar Azam scored 60 and 49 runs, respectively. Daryl Mitchell scored a magnificent century after Will Young’s 86 to bolster New Zealand to a commendable total of 288/7 in the first PAK vs NZ ODI here at Pindi Cricket Stadium. Pakistan captain Babar Azam invited the touring side to bat in the first PAK vs NZ ODI after the coin flipped in his favour. New Zealand in response, piled 288/7 in their quota of 50 overs at the back of a brilliant century by Daryl Mitchell and an impressive half-century knock by Will Young. Earlier, the touring side got off to a cautious start as their openers added 48 runs inside the first 10 overs before Haris Rauf got rid of Chad Bowes, who struggled to score a 26-ball 18. Following his dismissal, opening batter Young joined hands with Mitchell and punished the hosts’ bowlers with a monumental 152-run partnership for the second wicket. The pair dominated the bowlers with clean striking until Young miscued one off Shadab in the 27th over and fell short just 14 short of a well-deserved century. He smashed eight boundaries and two sixes on his way to a brilliant 78-ball 86. Mitchell, however, stood firm and put on some brief yet crucial partnerships with Tom Latham (20) and Mark Chapman (15) before finally perishing in the 47th over. He top-scored for New Zealand with 113 off 115 deliveries, laced up with 11 boundaries and a six. Following his departure, Henry Nicholls (20*) and Rachin Ravindra (9) made valuable contributions at the backend to keep New Zealand on track for a decent total. Naseem Shah led the bowling attack with two wickets for just 29 runs while Haris Rauf and Shaheen Shah Afridi also picked as many wickets but were expensive. Shadab Khan, on the other hand, could pick up one.
