New Zealand defeated Pakistan by 73 runs in the first ODI!|

New Zealand won the first ODI match against Pakistan by 73 runs! Kiwis achieved a tremendous victory in Napier due to Mark Chapman’s career best 132 runs and Nathan Smith’s 4 wickets.

Full story of the match

New Zealand made a strong total of 344/9 while batting first. Chapman and Daryl Mitchell (76) made a big partnership of 198 runs, which brought New Zealand to a strong position. In the end, Muhammad Abbas increased the score even more by hitting 52 runs in just 26 balls.

Pakistan started the chase in a great way. Abdullah Shafique and Usman Khan gave an opening partnership of 83 runs. After that Babar Azam 78 and Mohammad Rizwan also played well. At one point Pakistan was 239/3 in the 39th over and the chase was looking strong.

But as soon as Babar Azam was out, the collapse started! Pakistan lost its last 7 wickets for just 22 runs. Due to the brilliant bowling of Nathan Smith and Jacob Duffy, Pakistan was all out for 271 runs in 44.1 overs.

Strong bowling of New Zealand and collapse of Pakistan

Pakistan had a good start with the ball as well. Naseem Shah and Akif Javed had reduced New Zealand to 50/3 in the first overs. But Chapman and Mitchell’s great partnership changed the game.

The biggest problem for Pakistan was that they did not have a specialist spinner. Salman Agha and Irfan Khan together gave away 118 runs in just 10 overs, which proved very costly for them.

When Pakistan was chasing, Salman Agha and Babar Azam fought well, shared a partnership of 85 runs. But as soon as Babar was out, Pakistan’s wickets started falling and the match slipped out of their hands.

Highlights of the match:

New Zealand – 344/9 (50 overs)
Mark Chapman – 132 runs
Daryl Mitchell – 76 runs
Muhammad Abbas – 52 runs (26 balls)
Irfan khan – 3 wickets 93/51)

Pakistan – 271 all out (44.1 overs)
Babar Azam – 78 runs
Nathan Smith – 4 wickets (4/60)

New Zealand defeated Pakistan by 73 runs and took a 1-0 lead in the series.