Mitchell is overshadowed by Zaman as Pakistan defeats the visiting Kiwis in the first ODI.

In the opening match of the series on Thursday in Rawalpindi, Pakistan's Fakhar Zaman scored his ninth century in One Day Internationals, surpassing Daryl Mitchell's brisk century.

With Mitchell blasting 113 of 115 balls and forming a century-plus stand with Will Young, New Zealand scored 288-7. (86).

With only 29 runs allowed in 10 overs and two wickets taken with the last two balls of the New Zealand innings, Naseem Shah was Pakistan's best bowler.

Pakistan's Fakhar (117) and Imam-ul-Haq (60) combined in a strong opening stand of 124 and skipper Babar Azam contributed 49. Mohammad Rizwan remained not out on 42 as Pakistan reached the target with nine balls to go.

"The plan was to attack and stay long," said Fakhar, who was named Player of the Match. "If you survive the new ball, you must stay (till the end)."

The idea was to have at least one of the top three batters to bat deep, he said.

"Today was my day and hopefully, Imam and Babar will also play big knocks."

On a low pitch, Mitchell claimed New Zealand got a "par score" while batting first.

Pakistan has world-class bowlers, and they demonstrated this at the conclusion of the match with their death bowling, he told reporters.

Fakhar was hazardous; he occasionally challenged the status quo and took some chances, and he undoubtedly reaped the benefits of doing so.

On Saturday, the second ODI of the five-match series will also be played in Rawalpindi.