Pakistan really had a thorny road to a successful ODI opening match against hosts New Zealand. They tore them apart at McLean Park on Saturday. In a 50-over game, no counterpart of Pakistan has ever given up 43 or more extras off the beam, so they would want to forget it quickly.
Pakistan Concedes 43 Extras
Pakistani bowlers’ performance has been far from satisfactory. They leaked a mammoth 43 extra runs in the first innings of the match, which was the third-highest extra runs allowed by any one-day international team in the history of cricket. Their previous highest score was 47 extras against New Zealand in 1999, 44 extras against Sri Lanka in 1990, and New Zealand in 2003.
New Zealand Posts a Massive Total
In the first half, New Zealand did not have a good start. Naseem Shah and debutant Akif Javed picked up some crucial early wickets, which led to a paltry sum for the team of only 152/5. Nonetheless, the match result was completely changed over the course of the charming creation of 199 runs between Mark Chapman (132) and Daryl Mitchell (76).
Mohammad Abbas, the debutant and a rapid lower-order batsman, scored a fast 50 off 24 balls and took New Zealand to a gigantic 345/9 after 50 overs. Irfan Khan Niazi (3/51) and Haris Rauf were the best Pakistan bowlers, and their 5 wickets gave up only 127 runs.
Pakistan’s Chase Falls Short
Usman Khan and Abdullah Shafique made a great start, giving Pakistan 83 runs. Unfortunately, wickets fell at key moments, which affected the rhythm of the batting.
Among these, Babar Azam wielded his magic with his bat and worked wonders, scoring 78 to produce an 85-run stand with Salman Ali Agha (58). The wicket-takers of Kiwi bowlers, however, were Nathan Smith (4/60) and Jacob Duffy (2/54), who were not willing to compromise on the victory of the game, thus causing Pakistan to be dismissed with an unimpressive total of 271 in 44.1 overs.
