-Pakistan defeats New Zealand by 6 wickets
-New Zealand 237 for 6; Pakistan 241 for 4
-Pakistan moves up to sixth position and keep their semi finals hopes alive
Pakistan kept their hopes alive in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2019, as they beat New Zealand in match number 33 of the World Cup at Edgbaston.
This was New Zealand’s first loss of this tournament, while Pakistan registered their third win to keep their chances of qualifying for knock-outs alive.
How did match pan out?
After winning the toss, New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson decided to bat first.
The decision backfired as the top-order suffered a collapse. James Neesham (97*) helped them recover as they posted 237/6.
It was Babar Azam’s prolific century that allowed Pakistan to overpower New Zealand’s lethal bowling attack and seal an emphatic win.
Pakistan pacers Amir, Afridi gave a tough time to Kiwis
Mohammad Amir (1/69) raced to 16 wickets in the 2019 World Cup.
Shaheen Afridi (3/28) bowled the most economic spell by a Pakistani pacer since Wasim Akram’s 2/27 in Manchester in the 1999 World Cup.
Babar smashed maiden World Cup century, Sohail shines
Babar Azam surpassed the 3,000-run mark in ODI cricket. He became the 20th Pakistani batsman to get past this mark. Babar became the second fastest to 3,000 runs in ODI cricket (68 innings).
Babar slammed his 10th career ODI hundred. The right-handed batsman hit his third fifty-plus score in CWC 19 and first century in the World Cup. Haris Sohail slammed his second fifty in CWC 19. He also went past 500 ODI runs in 2019.
Kiwi openers enduring a poor form
Once again, the Kiwi openers, Martin Guptill and Colin Munro failed to fire. This has been the story since the last couple of matches.
Interestingly, Williamson has put his faith in them and not tinkered with the XI. However, come next game, against Australia, he might have to take a bold call.
Jimmy Neesham had an out of the box day
Jimmy Neesham scored his maiden World Cup fifty. Neesham and Grandhomme added 132 runs for the sixth wicket. This was the highest sixth-wicket stand for New Zealand in World Cup history. The 132-run stand was also New Zealand’s 12th highest for any wicket in the World Cup.
DKODING Verdict:
While this might seem out of context, but Pakistan have kept themselves alive in this tournament and Kiwis suddenly have lost the track.
