Pakistan defeated Afghanistan by a huge margin of 142 runs in the first ODI in Hambantota, Sri Lanka. In the first innings, the Pakistani team was reduced to a modest score of 201 runs. After this, playing in reply, Afghanistan’s team got out after scoring just 59 runs.
Batting first after winning the toss, the Pakistani team lost the wicket of Fakhar Zaman (2). Babar Azam, who came to bat after him, got out without opening an account. This series did not stop here and Rizwan also continued on his personal score of 21. Imam-ul-Haq held one end and went on to score runs. He completed his fifty and got out on a score of 61. Apart from them, Iftikhar Ahmed and Shadab Khan scored 30 and 39 runs respectively. Naseem Shah also scored an unbeaten 18 runs. Pak team got out after scoring 201 runs. Najeeb ur Rehman took the maximum 3 wickets for Afghanistan. Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi took 2-2 wickets.
Playing in reply, Afghanistan’s team got scattered like cards. Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Zazai were dismissed without opening an account. Even after his dismissal, the process of falling wickets continued. By the 20th over, the entire Afghanistan team was dismissed for a total score of 59. The highest run scorer for them was Rahmanullah Gurbaz, he got out after scoring 18 runs. Apart from him, 16 runs also came from the bat of Azmatullah Omarzai. Haris Rauf took 5 wickets for 18 runs for Pakistan. Shaheen Shah Afridi also got 2 wickets.
All the matches of the three-match series are to be played in Sri Lanka only. Pakistan has taken the lead by winning the first match. Now the pressure will increase on Afghanistan.