DUBAI: Pakistan pacer Muhammad Irfan struck twice to dent News Zealand, as Kiwis made 63 runs for the lost of three wickets in 15 over.
Earlier Pakistan skipper Misbahul Haq won the toss and elected to field fist against the Kiwis in the first match of the 5-match ODI series.
Misbah-ul-Haq said that Pakistan couldn’t afford to take a chance of bowling with a wet ball, with dew expected to play a role during the second half of the game. Kane Williamson, New Zealand’s captain, said he would have batted anyway.
Pakistan vs New Zealand 1st ODI live Streaming, preview
Younis Khan returned to Pakistan ODI side after missing the series against Australia, and Haris Sohail also got an opportunity at the expense of Umar Akmal. Despite Mohammad Hafeez’s  suspension from bowling, Pakistan named only four specialist bowlers – with Shahid Afridi’s legspin complementing a three-man pace attack comprising Umar Gul, Mohammad Irfan and Wahab Riaz.
Martin Guptill was ruled our due to hamstring injury, while Corey Anderson – who was struck on the helmet during the first T20 – sat out for precautionary reasons.
Pakistan 1 Ahmed Shehzad, 2 Mohammad Hafeez, 3 Asad Shafiq, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Haris Sohail, 6 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Shahid Afridi, 9 Wahab Riaz, 10 Umar Gul, 11 Mohammad Irfan
New Zealand 1 Dean Brownlie, 2 Anton Devcich, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Tom Latham, 6 James Neesham, 7 Luke Ronchi (wk), 8 Daniel Vettori, 9 Nathan McCullum, 10 Kyle Mills, 11 Adam Milne
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