LAHORE: Pakistan suffered an embarrassing defeat after failing to chase down a tough target of 331 against New Zealand in the opening match of the tri-nation ODI series against Pakistan at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Saturday.
Chasing a tough target of 331, the home side could only manage 254 runs before being bowled out in 47.5 overs despite a heroic half-century from Fakhar Zaman.
Pakistan got off to a solid start in the chase as their new opening pair of Fakhar and Babar Azam put on a brilliant 52-run partnership.
Fakhar was the main aggressor of the opening stand, while Babar batted cautiously until he fell victim to Michael Bracewell on the final delivery of the batting powerplay.
The right-handed batsman managed 10 runs off 23 balls.
Fakhar was involved in another crucial partnership for Pakistan when he added 51 runs for the second wicket with Kamran Ghulam, who scored 18 runs off 32 balls.
The returning opener then put on a brief partnership with skipper Mohammad Rizwan (three) before finally returning to the dugout in the 24th over.
He was the top scorer for the hosts with 84 runs off 69 balls, which included seven fours and four sixes.
After his dismissal, vice-captain Salman Ali Agha took over the reins of Pakistan’s chase and was involved in two crucial partnerships with Tayyab Tahir (30) and Khushdil Shah (15) before Bracewell brought the curtain down on his brilliant innings.
For Pakistan, Agha scored 40 runs off 51 balls, which included two fours and a six.
Abrar Ahmed then put up some fight back against the New Zealand bowling attack with an unbeaten 25 off 15 balls but his efforts were not enough to guide his team to victory.
Mitchell Santner and Matt Henry took three wickets each for New Zealand while Bracewell took two wickets.
Opting to bat first, the visiting team scored 6/330 in their allotted 50 overs thanks to the experienced Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell and Phillips.
However, the Black Caps had a mixed start to their innings as Shaheen Shah Afridi had Will Young (four) caught out on just the fourth ball of the match.
After an initial hiccup, Williamson joined Rachan Ravindra in the middle and together they added 35 runs to the total until the latter was dismissed by Abrar Ahmed in the eighth over with the scoreboard reading 39/2.
Ravindra scored 25 runs off 19 balls with the help of five fours.
Williamson then joined hands with Mitchell to pave the way for the visitors to recover by adding 95 runs for the third wicket until Shaheen fell.
The top-order batsman scored 58 runs off 89 balls with the help of seven fours.
New Zealand were soon reduced to 135/4 in 27.1 overs when Haris Rauf dismissed Tom Latham for a duck.
Meanwhile, Mitchell held his ground firmly and put on a vital 65-run stand for the sixth wicket with Phillips until he fell to Abrar Ahmed in the 38th over.
Mitchell scored 81 runs off 84 balls with the help of two fours and four sixes.
After Mitchell’s dismissal, Glenn Phillips switched gears and scored an unbeaten 106 off 74 balls, with the help of six fours and seven sixes, to take New Zealand’s total past 300.
He was also involved in a 54-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Michael Bracewell, who scored 31 off 23 balls, with the help of a four and three sixes.
For Pakistan, Shaheen Shah Afridi took three wickets, Abrar took two and Haris Rauf took one wicket.
Pakistan XI: Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Muhammad Rizwan, Salman Ali Agha, Tayyab Tahir, Khushdil Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf and Abrar Ahmed.
New Zealand XI: Will Young, Rachan Ravindra, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (wicket), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (captain), Ben Sears, Matt Henry and Will O’Reilly.
