NZ win ODI opener as Pakistan collapse in Napier
New Zealand beat Pakistan by 73 runs in the first ODI in Napier on Saturday, improving their record to five wins from six games across both white ball formats in the past fortnight.
Pakistan won the toss and had some early success reducing the Black Caps to 3/50 in the 13th over, which levelled live cricket betting odds after the home side entered as heavy favourites across leading bookmakers.
Their momentum did not last long, however, as Mark Chapman and Daryl Mitchell combined for a match-defining partnership of 199 runs.
The former would go on to notch his third ODI century, ending on 132 from 111, while Mitchell made a respectable 76 from 84 before holing out.
While the wickets of both – in the 42nd and 44th overs – slowed up New Zealand’s run rate, the damage was already done with the Kiwis at 4/280 before Chapman exited.
Debutant Muhammad Abbas then batted brilliantly with the tail, putting on 52 from 26 to break the record for the fastest half-century on debut in the format and take his side through to 9/344.
Set a hefty 345 to win, Pakistan were heavy underdogs on top betting apps at the midway point of the match but put up a fierce fight for the first two-and-a-half hours of the chase.
Openers Abdullah Shafique (36 from 49) and Usman Khan (39 from 33) provided the visitors with a strong platform, taking 83 runs from the first 12.3 overs.
Both fell in quick succession but that brought Babar Azam (78 from 83) and Mohammad Rizwan (30 from 34) to the crease.
Azam looked to be in control and potentially on track to guide his side to victory, particularly when the in-form Salman Agha (58 from 48) came out firing after Rizwan departed.
However, the wicket of Azam opened the floodgates, with Nathan Smith taking four wickets as Pakistan slumped from 249/3 in the 39th over to 271 all-out in the 45th.
“I think it was a great game of ODI cricket, lots of ebbs and flows,” Kiwi captain Michael Bracewell said afterwards.
“You can apply some T20 skills that the young players are learning quickly.
“It’s great to see ODI cricket still alive I guess.”
The two sides meet again on Wednesday, April 2 for the second ODI, where BetOnline has the Black Caps as -188.68 favourites to win the three-match series with a game in hand.
