[Watch] Haris Rauf wreaks havoc with a stunning 5-wicket haul in 1st ODI vs Afghanistan

Ace Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf bowled a magnificent spell in the first ODI against Afghanistan and paved the way for a comfortable win for his side. Courtesy of the win, Pakistan have taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series in Sri Lanka.

Pakistan captain Babar Azam won the toss and opted to bat first in the contest. Afghanistan spin trio Mujeeb Ur Rahman (3/33), Mohammad Nabi (2/34), and Rashid Khan (2/42) bowled well to restrict their opponents to 201 in 47.1 overs.

Opener Imam-ul-Haq (61) hit a fighting half-century tackling tricky conditions even though he kept losing partners at the other end. Iftikhar Ahmed (30) and Shadab Khan (39) contributed with useful knocks in the later half of the innings.

Shaheen Afridi (2/9) and Naseem Shah (1/12) gave a good start to Pakistan's defense with early wickets in the powerplay. Haris Rauf (5/18) then bowled a fiery spell in the chase and dismantled the Afghanistan middle order. The Afghanistan batters had no answers to his outstanding spell and surrendered meekly by getting all out for 59 in just 19.2 overs.

You can watch Haris Rauf's wickets in the video below:

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"Wicket demanded hard lengths, I tried to hit the deck hard" - Haris Rauf

Speaking at the post-match presentation after winning the Player of the Match award, Haris Rauf opened up that he tried to hit the deck hard after calibrating the conditions on offer. Reflecting on his match-winning spell, Rauf said:

"Feeling very well, used the conditions on offer and it worked wonders for me. It's a low scoring game, as a bowling unit, we had talked about what can be done to turn things around. When I started bowling, wicket demanded hard lengths, I tried to hit the deck hard."

He added:

"Shaheen started off well, I realized that when Shaheen started hitting the hard length, I had to do the same. When I run in, the focus is not on the speed but just to try and hit the right length and hard length."

Pakistan and Afghanistan will meet in the second ODI on Thursday, August 24, at the same venue.