Pakistan defeated the West Indies in the first ODI by five wickets, chasing down the target of 281 runs in the penultimate over of the innings. Debutant Hasan Nawaz was the star for the visitors as he smashed an unbeaten 63 off just 54 balls to become the first Pakistan player in six years to register a fifty-plus score on ODI debut. Abid Ali was the last one to do so as he scored a century in a losing cause against Australia in 2019.
It was a collective effort in the run chase from Pakistan as six of their batters crossed the 20-run mark. Saim Ayub got out early just for five runs, but then Abdullah Shafique stitched a decent partnership with Babar Azam to bring stability to the chase. However, Shamar Joseph caught Shafique plumb in front of the stumps to break the partnership at a crucial juncture.
Babar-Rizwan join hands
West Indies would've hoped to gain control with Shafique's wicket, but again, Mohammad Rizwan and Babar joined hands to stitch a valuable partnership of 55 runs. The run-scoring went down a little bit, but the duo ensured to keep the scoreboard ticking. Just when it looked like the visitors were gaining ascendancy, Gudakesh Motie bowled a pearler to dismiss Babar for 47 runs.
Hasan Nawaz shows amazing composure on debut
Rizwan notched up a hard-fought fifty while Salman Agha got a start as well. But when both of them got out, Pakistan were 180/5 and needed 101 runs off just 76 balls. At this juncture, Hasan Nawaz took control of the innings and, despite starting extremely slowly, the youngster managed to whittle off the pressure.
Hussain Talat, making his ODI comeback after six years, supported him well and scored 41 runs off just 37 balls with four fours and a six to his name. Nawaz was lucky to be dropped on 49 and this is where the West Indies lost a chance to come back into the game. Pakistan chased down the total in the 49th over of the innings to go 1-0 up in the series.
Lewis, Hope, Chase score fifties to take West Indies to 280
Earlier, it was a decent effort from the West Indies to post 280 runs on the board after losing the toss. Evin Lewis, Shai Hope and Roston Chase scored half-centuries but none of them could convert their fifties into three-figure scores. Motie provided the finishing kick, scoring 31 runs off 18 balls but they were guilty of not playing out their quota of 50 overs. West Indies got bundled out in 49 overs Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah picking up four and three wickets respectively.
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