KARACHI: Pakistan’s dominating victory over New Zealand in the opening fixture of the three-match One-day Inter­national series here at the National Stadium on Monday showed how the side has become a giant in the format.

Babar Azam and co. beat a full-strength New Zealand unit by six wickets and with 11 balls to spare in a near-flawless performance, which was boosted by a five-wicket haul from pacer Naseem Shah and brilliant half centuries by mainstays Fakhar Zaman, Babar and Mohammad Rizwan.

It was Pakistan’s ninth ODI victory in a row and if they go on to win the tenth on the trot when they face the BlackCaps in the second game on Wednesday, that would also be a fourth consecutive series triumph for the national side.

A victory in the second ODI would also take Pakistan a step closer to finishing at the top of the ICC World Cup Super League table.

“The plan is going about it match-to-match,” Babar said after the first match. “We want to play to our strengths and continue our momentum.”

The pitch during the first game provided equal opportunities to both batters and bowlers. While Naseem used reverse swing to trouble the New Zealand batters, debutant leg-spinner Usama Mir got decent grip off the surface.

Similarly, the visiting bowlers too had their moments but Pakistan were unblemished with the bat throughout their run chase.

The playing surface is expected to continue showing the same behaviour as it did in the first match and both sides are unlikely to make changes to their line-ups.

“Honestly, I haven’t seen the Karachi wicket behave the way it did today,” Fakhar said after the first ODI. “The pitch here is normally true but today the conditions for batting were really tough.”

Fakhar, who was returning to the national squad after a long injury break, hit a well-paced 56 off 74 balls before taking Pakistan closer to the target as he collaborated for a 78-run stand with Babar for the second wicket.

A good start will be expected from the 32-year-old southpaw again if Pakistan are to continue their winning run.

“It’s not easy to play right after coming back from injury, but I’m grateful that I played well,” said the Mardan-born cricketer.

If the pitch favours the bowlers again on Wednesday, Usama may go onto impact the game once more. The spinner cleaned up New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson and also got the wicket of experienced batter Tom Latham with his stylish bowling action.

“A tall leg-spinner, bowling with decent pace and managed to get a little bit of turn off the surface, he was really good and looking forward to seeing more of him in the series,” Latham said.

Latham and New Zealand will have to up their game with the bat to avoid a series defeat. In the first ODI, they failed to capitalise on decent starts and fighting knocks by Latham, Glen Phillips, Michael Bracewell and Mitchell Santner weren’t enough to pose a threat against Pakistan.

With the ball, the BlackCaps will have to contain the in-form Pakistan middle-order to have a chance at exposing their vulnerable tail.

Published in Dawn, January 11th, 2023