ROTTERDAM: Pakistan overcame a slow start and early loss of an opener to beat the Netherlands by 16 runs in their first one-day international on Tuesday.
Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat first. Only at 3-0 after four overs, it got worse for the visitors at 10-1 in six overs following Vivian Kingma's maiden wicket which claimed Imam-ul-Haq (2) leg before wicket on referral by the Netherlands.
Opener Fakhar Zaman led the recovery with 109 runs in 109 balls, including 12 fours and a six, before he was run out. Zaman and captain Babar Azam (74 in 85) shared a 168-run partnership for the second wicket, and Shadab Khan later smashed a 28-ball 48 not out as Pakistan posted a challenging total of 314-6.
Dutch pacer Bas de Leede took 2-42 in 10 overs.
In reply, the Netherlands came close with 298-8. Dutch captain Scott Edwards was not out on 71 in 60 balls. Opener Vikramjit Singh and No. 5 Tom Cooper both hit 65 runs each. Cooper scored at a much faster pace, needing 54 deliveries for his 65 compared to 98 balls for Singh.
India pacers Haris Rauf (3-67) and Naseem Shah (3-51) did most of the damage.
The second of three ODI matches is at Rotterdam on Thursday.