Naseem Shah, batters shine as Pakistan win series opener.

KARACHI -- Fifties from Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman and Mohammad Rizwan and five-wicket haul from Naseem Shah helped Pakistan beating New Zealand by six wickets in first One-Day International (ODI) here at the National Bank Cricket on Monday. New Zealand set 256 runs target for Pakistan which they achieved in 49th over with six wickets still intact. Chasing the target of 256 runs, Pakistan lost its opener Imam-ul-Huq (11) quickly at a total of 30 but Captain Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman batted with authority and contributed 78 runs for the second-wicket stand before the latter perishing for 56, leaving Pakistan at 108-2. Babar was then joined by Muhammad Rizwan and the duo added 60 runs as in the meantime, the captain reached to his another half century in ODIs. At a total of 168, Babar Azam (66) was stumped off Glen Phillips but Muhammad Rizwan continued playing sensibly for his unbeaten 77. Haris Sohail made the things easier for Pakistan with his 23-ball 32. He hit two fours and as many sixes before being caught at mid wicket off Tim Southee. Agha Salman also remained unbeaten with 10-ball 13. Earlier, New Zealand were restricted to 255-9 in 50 overs, with Naseem Shah taking second consecutive fifer in the ODIs and none of Kiwis batter getting into fifties. Michael Bracewell and Tom Latham scored 43 and 42 runs respectively. Naseem Shah provided an early breakthrough to Pakistan, dismissing opener Devon Conway for a golden...