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Pakistan Whites won the toss and elected to bat first. Shahzaib Khan with his 76 set the platform at the top for the middle order to use it to their advantage. Hasan Nawaz (56) and Khushdil Shah (51) did use it to a certain extent but could not carry on to convert their scores into big ones. Naseem Shah and Faheem Ashraf displayed some great death bowling and restricted what was looking like 320 to 276/8 in 50 overs. The pick of the bowlers were Naseem Shah (3-46) and Faheem Ashraf (2-35).

Fakhar Zaman (POTM): "[On his batting] I was playing for the first time after 3 months. I decided to take my time initially and was lucky to get some boundaries. Luckily, the score was not too much and the pitch was pretty good. The groundstaff should get a lot of credit to prepare something like this in this heat. The plan was to just build partnerships.

[What was his approach?] I like to play my natural game. I told Sameer to take his time as I was scoring briskly. My effort is to take some time in ODIs. The youngsters are very talented. I saw that in the nets as well. Sameer, Baig, Omair, Farhan, all are very good. We should win matches with them in the side.

[Happy with his performance with all the World Cup talk going around?] Yes absolutely. If you win the match and you score a 100, it is very satisfying. We play few ODIs so a tournament like this does help all of us a lot."

Haris Rauf (Pakistan Whites Stand in Captain): "[On their effort to defend the score] We did put a lot of effort throughout the chase. The bowlers were trying their best, but we must accept that Fakhar played a fine innings. We needed that main wicket early on. However, credit must go to him.

[Disappointed with 276/8?] The start that we got, we expected something above 300. However, we lost wickets in clusters and that is why the total dropped down. Though we thought we could still defend it.

[On the pitch] The pitch was very good for batting and bowling. It was fun.

[Importance of the remaining matches] The remaining matches are important for us. The aim is to win them and qualify."

Shadab Khan (Pakistan Greens Captain): "[On the tight finish] I think they bowled well at the backend. Obviously, when you play after a long time, it is tough. Faheem needed some time in the middle. Luckily Fakhar gave us that cushion.

[On Fakhar Zaman] He is a proven match winner in ODIs. It is his first match in a while and to play it like this is outstanding.

[On the team performance as a whole] I think we showed a lot of character. The fast bowlers bowled really well in this heat. The fielders also did really well to support the bowlers.

[On the team atmosphere] Everyone wants to perform well in the team. Most important is to keep a nice and positive attitude. Results can be up and down. However, if you keep a good attitude, more often than not, you succeed."

A tight second last over finish has headlined the first match at the competitive Pakistan National Champions Cup. Both, Pakistan Greens and Pakistan Whites valiantly fought right through the 99 overs played today. However, the difference between the two teams was Pakistan's proven ODI match winner, Fakhar Zaman. He once again entertained one and all with his white ball exploits.

On this note, I, Manan Mehta would like to take your leave on behalf of my colleagues Rajarshi Das and Zeeshan Naiyer. See you!!!