PAK vs NZ: Pakistan joins India and Australia in elite list after 5-wicket win over New Zealand in first ODI

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PAK vs NZ: Pakistan defeated New Zealand by five wickets in the first ODI in Rawalpindi to take a 1-0 lead in the 5-match series. With the win, Pakistan have also joined India and Pakistan in an elite ODI list.

Pakistan are now only the third team in the history of cricket to register 500 ODI wins. They achieved the landmark in their 949th ODI outing. Australia sits at the top of the list with 594 wins followed by India on 539.

The Men in Green played their first ODI match in February 1973, and secured their first win in the format in their second outing which came against England at Nottingham in August 1974.

On Thursday at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, after being put in to bat first, New Zealand posted 288 runs for the loss of seven wickets in 50 overs. Opener Will Young scored 86 runs off 78 balls while Daryl Mitchell (113 off 115) slammed a hundred.

Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf picked two wickets apiece for the hosts. Pakistan gunned down the 289-run target with nine balls to spare. Opener Fakhar Zaman (117 off 114) hit a hundred, while his partner Imam-ul-Haq also chipped in with 60 off 65.

Captain Babar Azam scored 49 off 46, while wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan hit crucial 42 runs off 36 balls towards the end. Adam Milne picked two wickets for New Zealand. Pacer Blair Tickner, and spinners Ish Sodhi and Rachin Ravindra picked a wicket each.

The second ODI between the two teams will be played at the same venue on Saturday, April 29.