• England defeated Pakistan by nine wickets in first ODI on Thursday.

  • Saqib Mahmood picked up a four-wicket haul in the game.

Twitter reactions: Saqib Mahmood shines as England blow Pakistan away in 1st ODI
England beat Pakistan in 1st ODI (Image Source: Twitter)

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With a third-string side, England crushed a much-more experienced Pakistan in the first One Day International (ODI) of the ongoing three-match series at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on Thursday.

Pacer Saqib Mahmood sent shockwaves to the Pakistan batting unit after producing a magical performance with the white leather. The right-armer provided the first breakthrough on the very first ball of the innings by dismissing opener Imam-ul-Haq for a golden duck.

But Saqib didn’t just stop there as on the third ball of the same over; the Warwickshire bowler got the big fish when he sent back Pakistan skipper Babar Azam without troubling the scorers.

The visitors kept losing wickets at regular intervals and never really got any momentum to post a competitive total. Opener Fakhar Zaman remained the only major highlight for his side, falling three runs short of his half-century when Matthew Parkinson dismissed him in the 22nd over.

Later, Shadab Khan made a valuable contribution of 30 runs as Pakistan were bundled out for 141 in the 36th over. Saqib finished the innings with a four-wicket haul for 42 runs in his quota of 10 overs. Apart from Saqib, Craig Overton and Parkinson bagged two scalps each.

In reply, England lost opener Philip Salt early for seven runs, but Dawid Malan and Zak Crawley stood tall and never allowed Pakistan bowlers to come back in the game.

The pair of Malan and Crawley went on to add unbeaten 120 runs for the first wicket to hand the visiting side a defeat by nine wickets. Malan scored 68 not out off 69 deliveries while Crawley stayed unbeaten on 58 from 50 balls.

Brief Score:

England 142/1 (Dawid Malan 68*, Zak Crawley 58*) beat Pakistan 141/10 (Fakhar Zaman 47, Saqib Mahmood 4/42) by nine wickets.

Here is how Twitter reacted:

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