Opener Fakhar Zaman hit his seventh one-day international century to steer Pakistan to a 16-run victory in the first of a three-match series Tuesday against the Netherlands in Rotterdam.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat in warm and humid conditions on a day where big scores were expected on a sluggish pitch at the VOC Cricket Club outside the Dutch harbour city.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The tourists however got off to a slow start before posting a commanding 314-6 after 50 overs.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Despite a valiant run chase, the Dutch finished on 298-8 against a spirited Pakistani team, backed by a myriad of vocal supporters.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Pakistan captain Babar Azam afterwards admitted being concerned at times during the match in what he described as "tricky conditions".<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Zaman's innings however "gave a solid partnership on which we could build", he said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Zaman carved out a run-a-ball 109 while Azam hit 74 before being caught after mistiming a delivery from Dutch paceman Logan van Beek.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The home bowlers initially contained Pakistan's batting, with the visitors losing their first wicket, that of dangerman Imam-ul-Haq, lbw to paceman Vivian Kingma in the sixth over for a painstaking two off 19 balls.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
But Zaman and Azam eventually let loose and put on a partnership of 168 off 170 balls before Azam was caught in a soft dismissal when he mistimed a shot into the waiting hands of Tom Cooper at mid-off.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Zaman was dismissed two overs later when he was brilliantly run out by Dutch captain and wicketkeeper Scott Edwards off a pin-point accurate throw by Bas de Leede at deep mid-wicket.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Pakistan looked set for a larger total but the Dutch bowlers did well to restrict them, with the spin bowling of youngsters Aryan Dutt and Tim Pringle causing problems.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The Dutch let themselves though down in the field and dropped several catches, Kingma notably fumbling a crucial high ball to hand Zaman a lifeline when he was on 43.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Batting second, the Dutch lost hard-hitting Max O'Dowd in the second over lbw to ODI debutant Naseem Shah (3-51), with a fast ball nipping back onto his pads.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Shah struck again later in the innings, dismissing Teja Nidamanuru, who dragged a delivery onto his stumps, and then trapping Pringle leg before for a golden duck.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Fellow quick Haris Rauf (3-67) claimed the important scalp of the veteran Cooper, who made 65 off 54 deliveries.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Cooper and 19-year-old Vikramjit Singh (65) put together a 97-run stand to steady the Dutch innings.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Edwards then took bat to ball and with three overs left, the Dutch required 48 runs off 24 deliveries.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Despite Edwards' heroic knock of 71 off 60 balls the Dutch fell agonisingly short.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"We feel like more and more we are getting ourselves within reach of winning a few games but today we dropped two or three catches. We let ourselves down," said Edwards.<\/p>\r\n\r\n