An exciting ODI World Cup match between Pakistan and New Zealand took place at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Pakistan decided to field first after winning the toss in an effort to take advantage of the current circumstances. Rachin Ravindra (108) and Kane Williamson (95) put on an incredible partnership as New Zealand, batting first, amassed a massive score of 401/6.
Williamson’s comeback to the team following an injury was vital even if he didn’t reach a century, and Ravindra achieved his third ODI century of the competition. With three wickets in three wickets, Mohammad Wasim Junior stood out for Pakistan, but Mark Chapman, Glenn Phillips, and Mitchel Santner’s rapid contributions towards the finish helped the Kiwis surpass the formidable 400-run threshold.
With style, Fakhar Zaman makes his comeback known.
The early removal of Abdullah Shafique was a blow to Pakistan’s efforts to pursue 402. But Fakhar Zaman stunned the Kiwis with a stunning century off just 63 balls. Zaman’s aggressive demeanor and Babar Azam’s solid performance laid the groundwork for an exciting chase. The rain briefly stopped play during the 22nd over of the match. Pakistan maintained a ten-run advantage over the DLS par score after the stoppage, and they were in a favorable position going forward with a revised target of 342 in 41 overs according to the DLS method.
However, in the 26th over, when Pakistan was at 200/1, rain struck again. Sadly, the bad weather made it impossible for the game to continue; hence, Pakistan won by 21 runs using the DLS system.
Losing skipper Kane Williamson said:
Obviously a nice first half. Weather played its part but can’t take away from Pakistan. Zaman – the ground wasn’t big enough for him. They played exceptionally well and gave themselves every chance. Match getting shortened brings both teams closer together. Would’ve been nice to have the full 50. Was tricky to protect the shorter side. Full credit, they deserved the result today. I thought the contributions throughout were great. Clearly a very good surface. Can be tough on the bowlers sometimes. Rachin is batting absolutely beautifully. There’s always small margins with the ball. If you get a wicket or two, you can take the short side out of it with the left-right combo. But we couldn’t do that.
Winning captain Babar Azam said:
When we came to the dressing room, just passed message we need good partnerships. Said to Fakhar if he plays 15 overs we’ll be ahead. Back of the mind we knew rain was coming. Full credit to Fakhar. We knew there was a short boundary and utilised it. We’re just trying to give 100 percent. You never know. We’re just going match by match.
POTM Fakhar Zaman said:
We were chasing 400 and that was our plan, just to see off the first 4 overs and thankfully it was my day. To be honest, I was lucky a few times but really enjoyed this innings. We know every game is a do or die for us and we have decided to play aggressively and we are playing with that mind so everybody is just trying to score runs. This is one of the best (knocks in ODI cricket) but I will always rank my 193 in South Africa highly, but I really enjoyed this game and New Zealand are a great side, so definitely one of the best.
We were also praying that we don’t want any more game to happen (while waiting anxiously in the dressing room during the rain break) because it was already 9 and half hours and we knew that DLS would come into the equation. We wanted to play with that aggressive mindset and we will play aggressively in the next game also.
India
