Pakistan’s innings against Afghanistan in the first ODI in Hambantota witnessed several captivating moments that kept fans and commentators on the edge of their seats.

The action-packed innings began as Fakhar Zaman was dismissed in the first over of the innings, edging a delivery from Fazalhaq Farooqi to second slip, where Rahmat Shah made a mess of the catch. The ball ricocheted off Rahmat's hands and went up in the air, but was eventually caught by Mohammad Nabi at first slip.

Nabi was seen angrily staring at Rahmat and pretending to throw the ball at him for potentially dropping an easy catch.

Pakistan captain, Babar Azam, registered his fourth duck in ODI cricker as he was also dismissed cheaply, trapped lbw by Mujeeb ur Rahman in the second over.

Mujeeb bowled a fuller-length delivery that spun sharply from outside off-stump. Babar was beaten on the inside edge as he completely missed the line. The ball would have hit the middle and leg stumps, and the umpire's decision was upheld on review. 

Naseem Shah is known for his batting exploits against Afghanistan, especially his two sixes that helped Pakistan win a Super Four game in the 2022 Asia Cup.

In the first ODI, Pakistan needed Naseem's batting again as they were struggling at 163/8. Naseem showed his cheeky batting style, leaving deliveries from Rashid Khan the way Steve Smith leaves pace bowlers. While most Pakistan batters struggled against Rashid, Naseem cut away one of his deliveries on the backfoot for a boundary past diving backward point.

He also hit a cheeky boundary against Abdul Rahman towards the third man boundary.

Naseem played an unbeaten 18-run knock and stitched an important partnership with Shadab Khan to help Pakistan post 201 runs on the board.