Twitter Reactions: Fakhar Zaman’s century along with Mohammad Rizwan’s blistering show guides Pakistan to beat New Zealand by five wickets

The opening partnership of 124 runs between Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq set the tone of the match for Pakistan.

Published - 28 Apr 2023, 09:24 IST | Updated - 28 Apr 2023, 09:01 IST

13 Min Read

After suffering back-to-back defeats in the final two T20Is of the series, Pakistan have once again come back to winning ways as the Babar Azam-led side defeated New Zealand by five wickets to win the first ODI of the five-match series. Chasing a target of 289 runs, the Men in Green started really well and showed a lot of composure as the Kiwi bowlers ran out of options in the middle. Adam Milne and Rachin Ravindra proved to be expensive as the home side chased down the required total with nine balls to spare.

Meanwhile, in the first innings, New Zealand were in total control of the match. After Chad Bowes (18 runs off 26 deliveries) walked back to the pavilion, Will Young and Daryl Mitchell took responsibility as their partnership of 102 runs helped the visiting team to be in the driver’s seat. Notably, Young went on to post 86 runs off 78 deliveries while Mitchell once again smacked a cracking century as he finished on 113 runs off 115 deliveries. However, after the duo got out, the middle order failed to keep the scoreboard ticking and that’s one of the reasons behind New Zealand’s downfall in the first ODI.

Meanwhile, with the ball, youngster Naseem Shah was terrific as he conceded only 29 runs in 10 overs. The 20-year-old also picked up two wickets and so did Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf. However, the last two went on to leak more than six runs per over.

When it comes to the chase, openers Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq gave Pakistan a brilliant start. Their partnership of 124 runs set the tone of the match as Zaman later went on to register a terrific century while Imam got out after scoring 60. Skipper Babar Azam started well but went back to the pavilion after scoring 49 runs off 46 deliveries. Meanwhile, just New Zealand were desperate to make a late comeback in the match but Mohammed Rizwan’s blistering knock didn’t allow them as the stumper-batter hit 42* runs off 34 deliveries. This particular knock made all the difference in the end as New Zealand lost the first ODI by five wickets.

Here's how Twitter reacted to Pakistan's brilliant run chase:

Rumman Raees@rummanraees15

Good start to the series boys! Alhumdullilah a good win for the team. Well played @TheRealPCB @FakharZamanLive @babarazam258 @iMRizwanPak @iNaseemShah 👏 👏 👏

12:58 AM · Apr 28, 2023

476

Babar Azam

@babarazam258

Good win to start off the series. 👏

12:58 AM · Apr 28, 2023

21.7K

1.6K

Salman Butt@im_SalmanButt

Great to see @iNaseemShah swinging the new ball and bowling great lengths . Top effort from @HarisRauf14 and excellent batting by the two openers @ImamUlHaq12 and @FakharZamanLive 👏👏.

12:36 AM · Apr 28, 2023

Ahmad Shahzad 🇵🇰

@iamAhmadshahzad

Good start for the series for Pakistan, Fakhar played well for his century!! Always a great sight when Naseem runs in like this and bowls with pace & control, showed difference. For Newzeland in 20 overs game you still stand a chance somehow,but as the format goes longer, it… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

12:34 AM · Apr 28, 2023

2.2K

Shahid Afridi

@SAfridiOfficial

Excellent win! Super innings to set the tone early by @FakharZamanLive and good support by @ImamUlHaq12 while @babarazam258 and @iMRizwanPak just keep showing why they are the worlds best batters. Naseem Shah was too good! Well done team 🇵🇰#PAKvsNZ twitter.com/safridiofficia…

Shahid Afridi

@SAfridiOfficial

Outstanding bowling by Naseem, he bowled exactly how a fast bowler should on such pitches. It is a gettable total, hope the batters can chase this down. Goodluck Pakistan! #PAKvsNZ

12:26 AM · Apr 28, 2023

3.3K

234

Fawad Alam@iamfawadalam25

That’s how it’s done!! Congratulations everyone on the 500th ODI victory 🇵🇰 The momentum was set with the ball by @iNaseemShah and then @FakharZamanLive and @ImamUlHaq12 carried it till the end. Well done team! 🙌🏼 #PAKvNZ

12:22 AM · Apr 28, 2023

376

Lisa Sthalekar@sthalekar93

Strong performance from a strong @TheRealPCB in the first ODI. Perfect start to the series especially with Fakhar Zaman 💯& Naseem Shah spell #PAKvsNZ

12:21 AM · Apr 28, 2023

290

Wahab Riaz

@WahabViki

500 ODI wins for 🇵🇰 and first of the #PAKvNZ ODI series. Great start boys and well played, specially @FakharZamanLive @ImamUlHaq12 with the bat and @iNaseemShah with the ball. Keep going!! 👏🏼

12:15 AM · Apr 28, 2023

1.7K