Bangalore : Nov 4 :Pakistan on Saturday defeated New Zealand with Fakhar Zaman 126 runs’ explosive inning, His historic inning has added to hopes of Pakistan’s reaching un semi-finals.
Fakhar Zaman played an innings of 126 runs off 81 balls with the help of 11 sixes and 8 fours. Captain Babar Azam scored 66 runs off 63 balls with the help of two sixes and 6 fours.
Fakhar Zaman was adjudged Man of the Match for his brilliant century.
Only 5% for Pakistan’s victory and 95% for New Zealand were shown as Pakistan got a mountain target of 402 runs.
On behalf of Pakistan, Shaheen Shah Afridi proved to be the most expensive bowler by giving 90 runs in 10 overs and he could not get any wicket, Muhammad Wasim was the most successful bowler, he got out 3 players for 60 runs. While Hasan Ali took 82 runs, Haris Rauf 85 runs and Iftikhar Ahmed took one wicket each by giving 55 runs.
Chasing the target of 402 runs, Pakistan soon suffered their first loss when Abdullah Shafiq was dismissed for just 4 runs in the second over.
Captain Babar Azam arrived at the crease to support Fakhar Zaman, the two combined to give Pakistan a good start, especially with the left-handed Zaman batting aggressively and scoring a fifty off just 39 balls.
The Pakistan team completed the century for the loss of one wicket in the 15th over, completing a 100-run partnership on the occasion.
Fakhar Zaman played an aggressive game and scored a century with the help of 9 sixes off 63 balls. Pakistan had just scored 160 runs for the loss of one wicket in 21.3 overs when rain interrupted the match.
About an hour of play was lost in the match due to rain and after the rain stopped, Pakistan got a revised target of 342 runs in 41 overs. When Pakistan restarted the innings, Babar Azam completed his half-century with a four. Then both the players scored 20 runs in one over of Ash Sodhee and Pakistan completed the double century in the 26th over.
Pakistan had scored 200 runs for the loss of one wicket in 25.3 overs when rain interrupted the match once again.
When the match was stopped, Pakistan was ahead in the match by 21 runs under the Duckworth-Louis method and when the match did not start by the allotted time, Pakistan was declared the winner of the match by 21 runs under the DLS method.
Earlier in the 35th match of the ICC World Cup, Dion Conway and Rachin Ravindra came out to bat for the New Zealand team while Shaheen Shah Afridi started with a good bowling performance.
New Zealand started positively, playing cautiously, and scored 29 runs for no loss in 5 overs. Captain Babar Azam made the first change in bowling and stopped the ball to spinner Iftikhar Ahmed to complete the sixth over. Shaheen Afridi’s bowling continued from the other end.
New Zealand completed 50 runs for no loss in the eighth over, while scoring 66 runs by the end of 10 overs.
Hasan Ali, the comeback fast bowler in the 11th over, took Dion Conway for 35 runs to give Pakistan their first win, along with completing 100 wickets in ODIs. New Zealand captain Kane Williamson came to support Rachin Ravindra at the crease. Both continued to bat confidently and scored 100 runs in the 16th over and 150 runs in the 23rd over. At the end of 25 overs,
New Zealand made 168 runs for the loss of one wicket, while on this occasion Kiwi captain Kane Williamson and Rachin Ravindra also completed 100 runs off 85 balls. New Zealand captain Williamson, who made a comeback after four matches, completed his fifty while continuing his excellent form. The Kiwis batsmen continued to bat aggressively and completed 200 runs in the 29th over, with Rachin Ravindra scoring 87 runs off 78 balls and Kiwi captain Williamson scoring 61 runs off 57 balls. In the 34th over, Pakistan got an opportunity to get out in an attempt to get runs, but they could not take advantage of it, Salman Ali Agha’s throws could not hit the wickets. However, the Kiwis, who were batting on 95 soon after, were caught on the boundary trying to play high short off skipper Iftikhar Ahmed, thus ending Ravindra and Williamson’s dangerous partnership of 180 off 142 balls. Rachin Ravindra completed his third century in the World Cup with the help of a six and 14 fours off 88 balls, but he could not push the score further and in an attempt to score quick runs, he played a high short off the ball of Mohammad Wasim and it hit the boundary line. Caught out by Shakeel.
New Zealand’s total score in the 36th over was 261 runs and three of its players had returned to the pavilion. New Zealand’s wickets continued to fall at intervals but they continued to bat at a fast pace, Daryl Mitchel made 29 off 18 balls, Mark Champion 39 off 27 balls, Glenn Phillips 41 off 25 balls and Mitchell Santner scored 26 runs off 17 balls.In this way,
New Zealand scored 401 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in the allotted 50 overs and gave Pakistan a target of 402 runs to win.
Pakistan was declared the winner of the match by 21 runs under the Duckworth-Louis method. Fakhr Zaman was declared the man of the match for his brilliant century.