Sohail was named Man of the Match for his match-winning innings of 85

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Pakistan all-rounders Haris Sohail and Shahid Afridi scored 85 and 61 respectively to help their side beat New Zealand by three wickets in the first ODI in Dubai.

However, New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor deserves a lot of credit for his valiant century.

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq would have been delighted with his decision to bowl first after New Zealand opener Dean Brownlie was caught by Ahmed Shehzad at point off the bowling of Mohammad Irfan for 14.

New Zealand stand-in captain Kane Williamson only made 10 runs before he was caught behind off the bowling of Irfan.

Anton Devcich managed to make 26 runs before he was caught behind off the bowling of Wahab Riaz.

Tom Latham scored 13 runs before he was run out by Younis Khan.

James Neesham failed to have an impact with the bat as he was given out lbw off the bowling of Afridi for one run.

Neesham was not given out initially, but Pakistan decided to review the decision. Replays showed that the ball was pitching in line and going on to hit leg stump, which led to the third umpire overturning the original decision.

Luke Ronchi mustered 23 runs before he was caught by Khan off the bowling of Irfan.

Taylor and Daniel Vettori stabilised the innings with a 58-run partnership before Vettori was clean bowled by Riaz for 27.

Thanks to Taylor’s unbeaten knock of 105, which came off 135 balls and included nine boundaries and a six, New Zealand finished on 246/7 off their 50 overs.

Taylor (right) scored his 11th ODI century

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Irfan was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets, while Riaz snapped up two and Afridi chipped in with one.

Chasing 247 to win, Pakistan got off to a terrible start as opening batsman Mohammad Hafeez was cleaned up by Kyle Mills for six runs.

Asad Shafiq fared no better as he was caught by Devcich at point off the bowling of Neesham for five runs.

Shehzad made 28 runs before he was given out lbw off the bowling of Vettori.

Khan only made four runs before he was caught by Brownlie at deep backward square leg off the bowling of Vettori.

Ul-Haq accumulated 13 runs before he was brilliantly caught by Vettori at mid-on off the bowling of Neesham.

Wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed made a quickfire 26 before he was caught by Adam Milne at wide long-on off the bowling of Nathan McCullum.

Sohail and Afridi steadied the innings with a 110-run partnership, during which both batsmen brought up their half-centuries, before Afridi was run out by Taylor for 61 off 57 balls, which included seven boundaries and a six.

Afridi struck seven boundaries and a six during his knock of 61

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Sohail ended up making a career-best 85, which came off 109 deliveries and included five boundaries and a six, as Pakistan reached their target with three balls to spare.

Vettori and Neesham took two wickets apiece, while Mills and McCullum claimed one wicket each.

Williamson was gutted to have lost the match, and said: “Yeah, I think on the back of Ross’ superb knock we had a reasonable total on the board but we didn’t do the job well with the ball.We picked up the wickets early but couldn’t finish the job. There are some positives, lot of things to learn by playing in this part of the world. Pakistan played extremely well and deserved to win. Vettori’s was an outstanding catch and an important one too. We certainly want to win every game we play, we want to put out this team as much as possible.”

Ul-Haq was pleased to have taken a 1-0 lead in the series, and said: “Very tough game. After we lost Hafeez as a bowler, it was difficult to get the fifth bowler. The way Haris and Shahid went about it, it was really a wonderful performance. We are looking to try different things because this is the last series before the World Cup. We will try more things in the coming games. We have to take chances at this stage. Sarfraz could be really helpful down the order, he plays spin and big shots under pressure really well. We are looking for that role for him in Australia. The partnership was really special. The temperament of Haris the way he bowled was very good and that helped him in batting as well. And Shahid played a tremendous knock according to the situation.”

Sohail was named Man of the Match, and said: “I tried my best. Thanks to Shahid bhai, it didn’t feel like I was playing in international cricket during that stand. He supported me really well. Vicky bhai [Waqar Younis] and Mushy bhai gave me confidence. They told me that I would bowl. I wanted to play a long innings like this and it worked out well.”