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Pakistan defeated New Zealand in the first ODI by six wickets at National Stadium in Karachi on Monday.
Chasing the paltry target of 256, Pakistan lost Imam-ul-Haq early, but Fakhar Zaman and skipper Babar Azam took charge to cruise further. The duo added 78 runs for the second wicket before Zaman was dismissed for a well-made 56.
Babar then formed a 60-run stand for the second wicket with Mohammad Rizwan to solidify Pakistan’s chase. Babar, however, lost his wicket for 66, but Rizwan kept his stand alive and took the team over the finish line with a brilliant unbeaten knock of 77 runs.
Earlier, Naseem Shah took his second five-wicket haul in ODIs to restrict New Zealand to 255/9 in their allotted 50 overs. Naseem was right on the money from the very first over of the Black Caps’ innings when he cleaned up Devon Conway for a golden duck with a nail-biting yorker.
Naseem then got rid of Glenn Phillips (37), Michael Bracewell (43), Mitchell Santner (21) and Henry Shipley (0) to complete his five-wicket haul. Apart from the right-arm pacer, debutant leg-spinner Usama Mir also played his part by bagging a couple of wickets. For the visitors, Tom Latham and Bracewell made valuable contributions with 37 and 43, respectively.
Here is how Twitter reacted:
1️⃣-0️⃣ up 👏
Pakistan cruise to a comfortable win in the first ODI 🙌#PAKvNZ | #TayyariKiwiHai pic.twitter.com/BPAYGjsHXf
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) January 9, 2023
Pakistan take 1-0 lead after beating New Zealand in the opening ODI.#PAKvNZ #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/1ndBRR63Oy
— CricketTimes.com (@CricketTimesHQ) January 9, 2023
Red ball skills were always there but so good to see Naseem developing as white bowler too,well done on excellent 5fr @iNaseemShah pic.twitter.com/5sWfijoVTD
— Sohail Tanveer (@sohailmalik614) January 9, 2023
Naseem Shah in the 4 ODIs he has played:
10-57-5
10-33-5
6-27-2
10-51-3#Cricket #PAKvNZ pic.twitter.com/9QKFZljexf— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) January 9, 2023
https://twitter.com/AvinashArya09/status/1612439078661943297
WORLD RECORD: 15 wickets in 4 ODIs for @iNaseemShah. This is the most wickets taken by a bowler in first 4 ODIs of career. Ryan Harris and Gary Gilmour had 14 each from their first 4 ODIs. #PAKvNZ
— Faizan Lakhani (@faizanlakhani) January 9, 2023
Naseem Shah seems to know what to do with the ball these days. Or rather a better understanding of his game.
Visualization, watching the feet of the batter, getting some swing, when to use the short ball…
On an upward curve.
— Bharath Ramaraj (@Fancricket12) January 9, 2023
A well-deserved 5fer for Naseem Shah 👏👏#PAKvNZ #UnitedWeWin pic.twitter.com/C0WtFPwW7g
— Islamabad United (@IsbUnited) January 9, 2023
Most wickets in first 4 ODI matches:
15 – NASEEM SHAH🇵🇰
14 – Gary Gilmour🇦🇺
14 – Ryan Harris🇦🇺
13 – Matt Henry🇳🇿
13 – Mustafizur Rahman🇧🇩
13 – Zahoor Khan🇦🇪#PAKvNZ— Kausthub Gudipati (@kaustats) January 9, 2023
Babar Azam’s 14th ODI score of 50 or more in his last 20 inns. Avg of 80+, SR of 97+. He is an absolute BEAST in this format.
— Rehan Ulhaq (@Rehan_ulhaq) January 9, 2023
List of Pakistani batters with 2000+ runs in ODIs at an average of 45+:
1. Babar Azam,
2. Fakhar Zaman,
3. Zaheer Abbas,
4. Imam-Ul-Haq.List of Pakistani batters with 2000+ ODI runs at an average of 45+ & a SR of above 90:
1. Fakhar Zaman,
2. END OF LIST.— Rehan Ulhaq (@Rehan_ulhaq) January 9, 2023
10 fifty plus runs in 11 ODI innings. Unreal consistency. Specialist of the format for a reason.#BabarAzam𓃵 #PAKvNZpic.twitter.com/ZbFJecvGMR
— Rai M. Azlan (@Mussanaf) January 9, 2023
Impressive bowling from Nasim Shah & Usama Mir on debut, the one that he bowled to Kane Williamson was a gem. Brilliant batting by Fakhar, Babar & Rizwan as usual & Haaris Sohail’s cameo is icing on the cake. We need to build teams, not agendas. 🙏
— Dr. Nauman Niaz (@DrNaumanNiaz) January 9, 2023
