PAK VS NZ - 1st ODI, Pakistan v New Zealand in UAE, 2018

So it did seem a lot closer, only for everything to come down crashing for Pakistan, pretty quickly. And with this win, New Zealand stretch their unbeaten margin against Pakistan to a whooping 12 ODI streak now. It's all we've got for you from here, hope you enjoyed reading it all through. I am Vineet Anantharaman signing off on behalf of Abhinand Raghavendran and Pradeep Krishnamurthy, and until Abu Dhabi again in a couple of days, ta ta!!

Kane Williamson | Winning skipper: All the games we've played so far have been similar battles. The game ebbed and flowed and we did really well today. The competitive partnerships helped us get to a good total and then Trent Boult with his hat-trick was really special. I think we were 200/3 and were looking to push on and get to 280, but they came back really well. But our bowlers - Southee, Sodhi and Boult batted really well and that helped us take some momentum into the next innings.

Sarfraz Ahmed | Losing skipper: The 50 runs which we gave away in the end hurt us. We were always going for wickets in the end, which is why I brought back Hasan Ali who is usually good at the death, but it didn't pay off. They have a great bowling lineup, and they hurt us early at the top after which it is tough to come back. Our top-order needs to work hard against the short ball. We did come back well in the match, but had there been a few more wickets, things could have been different. (Weak Urdu translation)

Trent Boult | Man of the Match: It is nice to be back there and it is a good start to the ODI series. I think the new ball was a key part of the game and we knew if we could keep the ball hooping around, it wouldn't be easy for the batsmen. I haven't been on a lot of hat-tricks and the plan was only to make him play. I have had a light winter and I hope I can carry on with this form. I was hoping you'd ask me what I'd enjoyed more - yes that last-ball six was a special feeling (chuckles).

22:49 Local Time | 00:19 IST: It'd be fair to say Pakistan went nowhere with this chase. You can't blame them when a certain Trent Boult decides to celebrate his recently turned dad achievement with an achievement on the field as well. Three consecutive balls, each one a ripper, rocked Pakistan's top-order to a point of no return. 266 was already enough in this part of the world, but Boult's spell ensured it remained well over par. Although Malik did rebuild for a while, when he fell and Shadab fell to the inability of umpire Joe Wilson to spot a mile between bat and ball, it looked over. But Sarfraz and Imad were in no hurry - neither to finish, nor to get on with it. With singles, some friendly bowling from Sodhi late in his spell and some aggressive intent from the skipper, they kept themselves alive mathematically. But New Zealand were always only a wicket away before the cookie crumbled, again.

Lockie Ferguson to Shaheen Afridi, out Bowled!! That'll do it. This is no change up, it's the full-throttle Ferguson yorker. Straight. Afridi hoicks all around it, the ball sneaks under, and the stumps are scattered all around. A bigger-than-it-looks 47-run win. Shaheen Afridi b Lockie Ferguson 0(2)

Lockie Ferguson to Shaheen Afridi, THATS OUT!! Bowled!!

Junaid Khan, right handed bat, comes to the crease

Lockie Ferguson to Hasan Ali, out Caught by Boult!! Hasan doesn't bother hanging around either. So Ferguson's slower leg-cutter does the job, with Hasan shaping for the across-the-line heave, losing timing, but getting enough of his bat on the miscue to at least go down long-on's throat, where Boult can do no wrong today. He backs, reverse-cups, and looks behind to find that his momentum hasn't taken him over the ropes. Hasan Ali c Boult b Lockie Ferguson 16(21) [4s-1]

Lockie Ferguson to Hasan Ali, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

Lockie Ferguson [9.0-0-36-1] is back into the attack

Southee to Shaheen Afridi, no run, full on off. Afridi presses forward and pushes it to cover

Shaheen Afridi, left handed bat, comes to the crease

Southee to Imad Wasim, out Caught by de Grandhomme!! Now, now, Imad in an attempt to force something out of the ordinary tries out a reverse scoop of sorts. It was a low full toss, yes, and it flew off the middle of the bat too, but de Grandhomme, at backward point dives full length to his right to pluck it out. That's the game then, surely. Imad Wasim c de Grandhomme b Southee 50(72) [6s-2]

Southee to Imad Wasim, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

Southee to Hasan Ali, 1 run, low full toss, squeezed out to mid-off

Southee to Imad Wasim, 1 run, high full toss. Imad, taken by surprise, somehow jabs and gets it to balloon up to an empty mid-on. Gets to his fifty, and Pakistan need less than what Imam has got. In lesser than one-third the number of balls

Southee to Imad Wasim, 2 runs, a charge down, plus a straight drive down the ground

Southee to Hasan Ali, 1 run, yorker on off. Slammed away wide of mid-off

Tim Southee [8.0-1-26-0] is back into the attack