Kicking off the 50-over series vs Pakistan 'A', Aotearoa 'A' came within a whisker of registering a first up win after they lost by 1 wicket. Batting first, the kiwis put up 222, all out with 3 balls to spare and with a wicket in hand, Pakistan chased down their target with, 3 balls to spare. As always, it's the selections and minor splashes of funk around the A team that tickle my fancy and there was plenty as we moved from T20 to 50-over antics.

As far as runs go, Todd Astle top-scored for Aotearoa with 51 off 71 balls batting #7. Will Young (#4), Tom Blundell (#5) and Corey Anderson (#6) all passed 30 as well, but those four lads who scored the bulk of the runs for Aotearoa, did so with strike-rates below 85. Given how the game played out, this isn't anything to kick up a fuss about as they bowlers from both teams made significant contributions and batting looked a wee bit niggly.

Pakistan A vs New Zealand A | 1st unofficial ODI | Highlights | Abu Dhabi | PCB Welcome to Pakistan Cricket Board Official Page. Get All The Updates Regarding Pakistan Cricket Here. All the Happening in Pakistan can be caught up here. You can get players interviews, match highlights, Practice Sessions, Press Conference, Celebrations.

Chur to Astle then, for putting up a 50. Astle only batted in the first T20 game - played all three - and scored 2 there, which with a half-century on the board now results in Astle having a fairly solid tour for the A gang overall. Astle took 4w in the T20s, then hit a halfie and took a wicket in the opening 50-over game; if he can maintain these solid performances he'll be adding to his case for consistent ODI selection vs Pakistan.

Pakistan enjoyed a not out century from Mohammad Rizwan to lead them to their victory, while Lockie Ferguson was the chief destroyer for Aotearoa. Ferguson got this started with the third wicket, which had Pakistan 121/3 in the 26.6 after Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed put together a solid partnership. By the 40th over, Pakistan were 178/8 and Ferguson had taken 3 more wicket as he tore through the lower order.

One awesome innings today from Mohammad Rizwan for Pakistan A. 105* as Pakistan A defeat New Zealand A by 1 wicket with only 3 balls remaining. Last wicket stand of 41 runs with Rahat Ali #PAKAvNZA
— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) October 21, 2018

Ferguson finished with 4w @ 2.80rpo off his 10 overs. Logan van Beek took 2w @ 7rpo and Corey Anderson took 2w @4rpo, while Astle dismissed the #10 batsman. Blair Tickner and Rachin Ravindra also bowled, without a wicket; Tickner didn't take a wicket in 6ov during the T20 series and now after 8 overs in this game, he's wicket-less for the whole tour.

Yes, the youngster Ravindra played and this was one of numerous intriguing selections that caught the eye. Ravindra batted #8 and while he only had 11 runs, his strike-rate of 137.50 was the highest of the kiwi batsmen which is handy down the order. His lefty spin was used for 6ov and Ravindra came into the attack before Astle, although Ravindra conceded 5.83rpo and didn't take a wicket.

This is intriguing as Ravindra has primarily operated as an opening batsman, however even in the U19 World Cup earlier this year, he bowled plenty. Ravindra has clearly been identified by NZC as a project to work on, hence he was selected for an A tour without playing a Plunket Shield game and that's all good, we love the planning and development things.

Ravindra has a bit of a niche though, as an opener who can bowl and if that's his niche, I'm all in on seeing him given every opportunity to develop swiftly. However as a lower order batsman who can bat a bit? Well there are plenty of those around Aotearoa and I wouldn't be so keen on Ravindra getting that crack, ahead of others. Common sense suggests that Ravindra is being eased into the system though and ain't nothing wrong with that.

BJ Watling and Logan van Beek joined the group, both slotting into the 50-over team for the first game. Van Beek took up his usual spot and went alright with 10* batting #9 (111.11sr), along with a couple wickets and 4 wides with the ball.

The inclusion of Watling makes things a bit weird. Watling was the wicket-keeper in this game and one would assume, given that he is the best wicket-keeper in Aotearoa, that Watling should keep that job. Tom Blundell played as a batsman and Tim Seifert didn't play, which alludes back to the point I always make about Aotearoa's wicket-keeping depth and how they are all, very legit batsmen. You could make the case for Blundell and Seifert to play as batsmen, with Watling in the team as well. Kinda crazy, but that's the level of batsmanship in the wicket-keeping gang.

As expected, Will Young came into the 50-over team after missing out on T20 selection. Young went straight into #3 and his 40 (63.49sr) was second only to Astle's knock.

The next game is on Wednesday, stay tuned.

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Peace and love 27.