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On Saturday, November 4, Pakistan defeated New Zealand by 21 runs on DLS method after the match was called off due to rain, to keep their hopes alive for a semi final spot in the ODI World Cup 2023. The former world champions rode on the back of a scintillating hundred from Fakhar Zaman and the captain Babar Azam, who scored a fifty in the support cast, to sink the Blackcaps to their fourth successive defeat in the flagship tournament.
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For the unversed, the captain of Pakistan, Babar Azam, won the toss and decided to put New Zealand into bat, on a placid pitch at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The Blackcaps had a steady start in the first powerplay stage before they lost the key wicket of Devon Conway, who had shared a 68-run opening stand with Rachin Ravindra.
In his second match of the ODI World Cup 2023, the captain of New Zealand, Kane Williamson looked determined to get himself going in the all-important match. He shared a fantastic stand of 180 runs for the second wicket with Rachin Ravindra, scoring 95 off 79 with 10 fours and two maximums before Iftikhar Ahmed got him caught out at the long-off region through Fakhar Zaman.
After completing an astonishing third hundred during his first ODI World Cup 2023 campaign, Rachin Ravindra found Saud Shakeel at the mid-wicket region, while trying to slog off Mohammad Wasim Jr for a maximum. Then, the rest of the New Zealand took full advantage of the set platform to help their team post the total of 401/6 in their allotted 50 overs.
In their pursuit of a daunting target of 402 runs, Pakistan lost the early wicket of Abdullah Shafique for just four runs, finding Kane Williamson in the 30-yard circle off the bowling of Tim Southee. But, from that point onwards, Fakhar Zaman teared into the New Zealand bowling attack, smashing them for maximums all over the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
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As the clouds started to hover around in the city of Bengaluru, Babar Azam also started to take the attack to the opposition too. When the play was halted for the second time due to rain, later getting called off, Pakistan’s score read 200/1 in 25.3 overs, with Fakhar Zaman at the crease on 126 off 81, an innings which included eight fours and 11 maximums, while Babar Azam was not out on 66 off 63.
