Unpredictable Pakistan on Wednesday halted winning streak of New Zealand as green-shirts comprehensively crushed Kiwis by seven-wicket in one-sided affair here at Birmingham Cricket Stadium.
Chasing a below-par target of 238 runs, Pakistan lost Fakhar Zaman in the third over. He made just nine runs.
Imamul Haq followed the suit shortly. On individual score of 19, the left-handed batsman fell prey to Ferguson’s pace. Hafeez aka professor arrived at the crease and put Pakistan out of crisis with 66-run partnership for the third wicket. And when things started to look good for Pakistan, professor gifted his wicket cheaply.
After Hafeez’s departure, Haris—Pakistan’s hero in South Africa match—arrived at the crease and stabilized the things in the middle. On the other end, calm and composed Babar Azam kept the score-card ticking with magnificent batting display.
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During the same match, Babar Azam became second fastest to 3000 runs in ODIs. He achieved this feat in 67 matches.
Both added runs for the fourth wicket to help Pakistan in registering comprehensive wickets against the undefeated Kiwis.
Babar Azam brought up his century on 124 balls. He went on to score 101 runs and remained unbeaten. Haris made 68 runs.
Earlier today, Pakistan restricted New Zealand to 237 runs here at Birmingham Cricket Stadium.
New Zealand won the toss and opted to bat first.
Amir—the magnificent—removed Guptill on the very first ball of his spell. Later, Shaheen Shah Afridi joined the party and removed three in a row to put Kiwis under pressure.
Williamson tried to revive the innings and posed threat to Pakistani bowlers for a while. However, Shadab Khan removed him on the individual score of 41.
New Zealand brought their first hundred in the 31st over. However, Neesham and Grandhomme averted a complete collapse. Both batsmen added 132 runs for the sixth wicket.
Neesham remained unbeaten on 97 runs while Grandhomme made 64 runs. In the end, New Zealand managed 237 runs.
COURTESY-GNN
