New Zealand all-rounder Muhammad Abbas on Saturday shattered a huge record during the 1st ODI against Pakistan at the McLean Park in Napier. On debut against the country of his birth, Abbas struck 52, setting a world record for the fastest half-century on debut when he reached 50 off the 24th ball he faced. Abbas, who was born in Lahore, surpassed the previous best of Indian all-rounder Krunal Pandya, who had scored a fifty in 26 balls on his ODI debut.
The moment 21-year-old Muhammad Abbas registered the fastest-ever fifty on ODI debut! Follow LIVE and free in NZ on TVNZ + & DUKE and @SportNationNZ Live scoring | #NZvPAK #CricketNation pic.twitter.com/6KtLNYbLIh
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) March 29, 2025
Meanwhile, New Zealand won the series-opener to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. After being put into bat, the Kiwis, led by Mark Chapman’s second ODI century, posted 344/9 in 50 overs at the McLean Park.
Chapman inflicted misery upon his favourite opponents once more, slamming a career-best 132 off 111 balls. A 199-run stand for the fourth wicket between him and Daryl Mitchell revived New Zealand’s after the Pakistan bowlers did well to reduce them to 3/50.
Mitchell slammed 76 off 84 balls, before Abbas’ blitz steered New Zealand close to 350. For the visitors, Akif Javed claimed 2-55 on his international debut, but the best figures were recorded by part-time seamer Irfan Khan, who took 3-51 off five expensive overs at the death.
In reply, Pakistan looked on track at 249-3 after half-centuries from the recalled Babar Azam and vice-captain Salman Ali Agha. Babar top-scored for Pakistan with 78 off 83 balls, but it was his dismissal that sparked a batting collapse.
The visitors lost seven wickets in the space of 22 runs, including Babar and Salam (58 off 48). Nathan Smith took 4/60.
“The way we started second innings, we went with good intent. When you are near the chase, pressure increases, three-four overs changed the momentum. Pitch was not good early on, difficult to bat on…Chapman played fantastically and put good runs. We need to improve more and take benefit of the toss. We had some new guys in the middle order and it’s difficult because they are playing in challenging conditions,” Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan said after the match.
“I think it was a great game of ODI cricket, lots of ebbs and flows. You can apply some T20 skills that the young players are learning quickly. It’s great to see ODI cricket still alive I guess. (on bowling main quicks early on) You just try use your resources as best as you can, fortunately it paid off. You roll the dice and luckily it came off for me today. (on Abbas) it’s a great sign for domestic cricket that guys coming in and stepping up and playing the way they play in domestic cricket. To stay in the game, keep fighting, that New Zealand spirit and it’s what we re all about,” Kiwi skipper Michael Bracewell added.
(With AFP Inputs)
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