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The handshakes were perhaps warmer under the stands as rain fell afresh at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday evening. A New Zealand defeat, after all, is far less dramatic than if Pakistan had lost as that would have meant elimination from the World Cup and a fresh avalanche of criticism.
New Zealand also are used to World Cup heartbreaks, although the 2019 runners-up can still hope to chase down a semi-final spot despite Pakistan winning by 21 runs under the rain rule (DLS) when the match was called off. Pakistan were 200/1 in 25.3 overs when the last rain interruption that led to the game being called off came. The first rain break had seen Pakistan’s target revised to 342 in 41 overs.
Defeat though would have been farthest from their minds after piling up 401/6, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam inserting the opposition like he did against Australia at this high-scoring ground and they piled up 367 to win big.
Rachin Ravindra, Wellington-born but playing in the city of his father’s birth with family members watching, would have felt at home either way under that overcast sky. The 23-year-old left-hander was back opening with skipper Kane Williamson making a second injury-comeback, having missed four games after the first return because of a broken thumb.
Ravindra (108 — 94b, 15×4, 1×6) extended his sensational form to get to his third century of this World Cup as the breakout star of the tournament. His crisp drives and placements with Devon Conway stood out early on before Williamson, who hit 78 against Bangladesh in his only previous game at this World Cup, scored a fluent 95 (79b, 10×4, 2×6) that felt like he had never missed four games in between. Williamson almost got his third Cup century, only for the 180-run second-wicket stand to be broken when he holed out to Iftikhar Ahmed’s spin in his bid to get it with a six.
Ravindra holed out against Mohammad Wasim, Pakistan’s best bowler, in the next over, but Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Glenn Phillips and Mitchell Santer all played brilliant cameos to take the tally past 400 and put the match seemingly out of Pakistan’s reach.
But New Zealand had not contended with the force called Fakhar Zaman. Kept out after Pakistan’s opening game versus Netherlands as Imam-ul Haq was preferred to open with Abdullah Shafique, Pakistan would be grateful they made the belated switch, Zaman having hit 81 in his second game versus Bangladesh.
On Saturday, his T20-style hitting by getting under the deliveries, constantly moving at the crease and targeting vacant areas with powerful shots kept Pakistan’s improbable chase under control. Zaman raced to his 11th ODI hundred off 63 balls to keep Pakistan 10 runs ahead on the par score at the first rain interruption. And another blitz in the four overs possible after a 90-minute wait saw 40 runs scored to ensure the win.
He dominated the unbroken 194-run second wicket partnership with skipper Babar Azam (66 – 63b, 6×4, 2×6). Zaman has an unbeaten ODI double century and few would have bet against his getting another double.
Pakistan’s win sets the stage for an exciting final stretch of league matches. New Zealand and Pakistan both have eight points with a game in hand against Sri Lanka (Bengaluru, November 9) and England (Kolkata, November 11) respectively. New Zealand are ahead on Net Run Rate, so Pakistan will have an eye on that as they play later.
However, the gutsy Afghanistan can eliminate both. With eight points from seven games, they can qualify by winning the next two games, or beat either Australia or South Africa and finish with a superior NRR.
Such permutations do little justice to the thriller the match was shaping up to be until rain arrived.
Despite the short boundaries, Pakistan’s bowling was a letdown after picking an all-pace attack while the Kiwis effectively had four spinners in the eleven. It was another poor day for spearhead Shaheen Afridi (10-0-90-0), Mark Chapman taking 15 runs off an over that went for 16. Mohammed Wasim (3/60) was the only bowler who kept switching his length and line to keep the batters guessing.
A relieved Pakistan now know who they missed at the top of the order. Whether that realisation has come too late, they will find out in the next few days.
“We know that every game is do or die for us,” said Zaman, Player-of-the-Match. “In the team meeting, our management decided that we will play aggressively, so we are playing with that mindset and everybody was trying to score more runs. This is one of my best centuries; I will always remember my 193 against South Africa, but this is one of my best.”
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