Mark Chapman scored 132 and Daryl Mitchell 76 in a 199-run partnership as New Zealand amassed 344 for 9 and went on to beat Pakistan by 73 runs in the first One-Day International at McLean Park, Napier, on Saturday.
Chapman posted his third ODI century and rebuilt the innings with Mitchell after New Zealand were three wickets down in the 13th over, struggling against bounce and swing from the Pakistan fast bowlers.
Muhammad Abbas, the first Pakistan-born player to play for New Zealand, scored 50 off 24 balls -- the fastest half century by a player on debut in One-Day Internationals.
Babar Azam led Pakistan's run-chase with 78 from 83 balls, but when he was out Pakistan slumped, losing seven wickets for 22 runs.
For much of its innings Pakistan were ahead of New Zealand, 64-0 after 10 overs where New Zealand had been 34-2.
Usman Khan and Abdullah Shafique put on 83 for the first wicket, Babar and Mohammad Rizwan added 76 for the third wicket, then Babar and Salman Ali Agha contributed a further 85 for the fourth wicket.
Pakistan were 249-3 in the 39th over and still well on target.
New Zealand captain Michael Bracewell was forced to bring back his strike bowlers Will O'Rourke and Jacob Duffy. O'Rourke offered a short ball to Babar which he hooked to Mitchell on the boundary at backward square.
Duffy then ran out Tayyab Tahir (1) and bowled Irfan Khan first ball as Pakistan slumped to 253-6 in the 40th over.
Pakistan's hopes faded as wickets dwindled and the run-rate rose. Pakistan were 271-9 when Salman was out for 58 from 48 balls.
Pakistan won the toss, bowled and were was on top early through the efforts of its four seam bowlers, Naseem Shah, Akif Javed, Mohammad Ali and Haris Rauf. Akif and Ali were making their ODI debuts.
There were patches of grass on the pitch at McLean Park and the ball moved more than is usual at the venue where the average first-innings score in ODIs is 244. Naseem Shah and Akif Javed used the conditions superbly.
New Zealand slumped to 34-3 in the 13th over, bringing Chapman and Mitchell together. Runs were hard to come by at first but after bowling his seamers through the first 25 overs, Rizwan was forced to go to his fifth bowler. The New Zealanders cashed in.
Chapman and Mitchell took 67 runs from the five overs bowled by Salman and 51 runs from five overs bowled by Irfan Khan.
Irfan had his revenge dismissing both Chapman and Mitchell. Chapman's 132 came from 111 balls and Mitchell's 76 from 84 deliveries.
Pakistan lost the preceding five-match T20 series 4-1 by margins of nine wickets, five wickets, 115 runs and eight wickets as the visiting batters struggled to adapt to bouncy New Zealand pitches.
The second match in the three-match ODI series is next Wednesday in Hamilton.
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