New Zealand saw their third ODI hat-trick thanks to Trent Boult who was vicious with the new ball. The left-arm pacer dismissed Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, and Mohammad Hafeez at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi during the first ODI.
Batting first, New Zealand managed 266 for 9 in their 50 overs and in reply, Pakistan suffered early blows. Opener Imam-ul-Haq and Shoaib Malik tried to recover a bit, taking the innings from 8/3 to 71/3, but the Kiwis were just too good for them, as they lost three wickets for 14 runs again.
The game looked out of Pakistan's reach before Sarfraz Ahmed, the skipper scored 64 important runs. Even Imad Wasim looked good and turned out to be men in green's second highest scorer; 50 off 72 balls.
But that wasn't enough, Pakistan lost their last three wickets on the same score, 219 and that was game.
Trent Boult was picked up the man of the match for his 3-54. Even Lockie Ferguson managed to bag 3 wickets giving away just 36 runs, but Boult's wickets laid the foundation of victory for Kiwis.
It is a hat-trick for @trent_boult! Full swinging delivery does the trick, @MHafeez22 is falling across his stumps. Pakistan in trouble at 8/3
— Abdul Malik Akhon (@malikahmadzai00) November 7, 2018
Ball-by-ball clips & live-blog: https://t.co/berXwmYgOq#PAKvNZ pic.twitter.com/n0b4tfwYdV
A REMINDER:
— Cricket Remind (@CricketRemind) November 7, 2018
Here is Trent Boult ( @trent_boult ) taking a hat-trick against the in firm Pakistan ????????????
8/3 inside 3 overs ????????????????
pic.twitter.com/pj9sJ8NK0b