Recent Match Report – Pakistan vs New Zealand 4th ODI 2023

by

Pakistan 334 for 6 wickets (Babar 107, Salman 58, Masood 44, Henry 3-65) defeated new zealand 232 (Latham 60, Chapman 46, Mir 4-43, Wasim 3-40, Rauf 2-37) by 102 runs

After a somewhat poor performance, where Pakistan allowed New Zealand to get close to them, it was again a task for the hosts. a century from Babar Azam – His 18th in ODIs – Helped Pakistan post a dangerous score of 334 runs for 6 wickets after being invited to bat.

After this, the responsibility of dismissing New Zealand was on the bowlers, who were performing at their best. The game was over as a contest before the last wicket fell and New Zealand were all out for 232. Pakistan leads 4-0 in the five-match series and topped the ICC rankings for ODI teams in the process.

From the moment the chase began, it was clear that maintaining the asking rate would be a problem for New Zealand. Shaheen Shah Afridi And Haris Rauf were metronomically precise and frighteningly quick in the powerplay, and Will Young and Tom Blundell are not natural attackers. After a slow start, both were out within two overs of each other.

Both, to their credit, were dismissed in search of the boundaries their team desperately needed. Mohammad Wasim On his very first ball, Young lofted it straight into the night sky to take a catch, before Blundell failed to gain height on a drive off Rauf, the ball going straight to Iftikhar Ahmed at cover.

This was followed by a period of stagnation during the third wicket partnership between Daryl Mitchell and Tom Latham, perhaps this was ultimately the outcome of New Zealand’s chances. A total of 83 laborious runs were scored at a rate of less than five, but by then the asking rate had reached almost 8.50. Usama Mir – who did no harm to his chances at the World Cup by playing brilliantly for Shadab Khan – trapping Mitchell in a stroke that led to his downfall.

stand between latham and mark chapmanWhat happened next was New Zealand’s brightest passage, as Chapman abandoned all orthodoxy. Both added 55 runs in 43 balls and Chapman took the lead by dismissing Iftikhar. Agha Salman Out of attack after scoring 34 runs in three overs.

But the fast bowlers made a comeback and Afridi once again clean bowled Latham and played a good, albeit less explosive, inning of 60 runs in 76 balls. Chapman continued bowling, but Mir’s fast bowling knocked out his stumps for 33 runs. -Ball 46. After this, New Zealand’s resistance ended. Mir gave a career-best performance by taking a few more wickets, taking 4 for 43, and Pakistan won by 102 runs.

Earlier, another century from Babar helped Pakistan reach a score that always looked ahead of New Zealand. In an innings where he also became the fastest player to score 5000 ODI runs, the batsmen – especially Babar and Salman – were in control for most of the time on a flat pitch. However, New Zealand, led by Matt Henry, troubled Pakistan regularly enough to keep the score from getting completely out of hand. Some late fireworks from Mohammad Haris and Afridi ensured that the platform set by Pakistan’s middle order would lead to a big score.

Pakistan began the turnaround having already clinched the series, and Shan Masood – who replaced Imam-ul-Haq – guided Pakistan through the powerplay with particular ease, when Henry dismissed Fakhar Zaman in the same innings. Removed early with the delivery that had got him out in the previous game. , Back-of-a-length ball went high in the air.

The innings continued to run on autopilot through a 50-run, ten-over stand between Masood and Babar, before some sharp work from Blundell behind the stumps saw Masood fall to Ish Sodhi. Pakistan’s reliance on the top order is well known, the fall of Mohammad Rizwan following a direct-hit by Henry would have faltered. But even in the slightest adverse situation, Salman emerged brilliantly.

Along with his brilliant performance in sweep and reverse sweep, Salman, who was skilled in the use of footwork, again put New Zealand on the back foot. With a straight six off Cole McConchie, he completed his half-century in 40 balls and also completed the century partnership between him and Babar.

Babar blended into the background but still went past 50 with ease, as he usually does in ODIs. By the time Henry took a brilliant return catch to dismiss Salman, Babar was just 12 runs away from his century and was content to give Iftikhar the lead.

Iftikhar collected an entertaining cameo – 28 off 22 – before Babar ticked through the off side to bring up his century in 113 balls. When Babar holed out to deep midwicket to give Ben Lister his first wicket on ODI debut, Pakistan were somewhat in a quandary, with two overs remaining and still unable to get past 300.

Wasim and Shaheen improved by scoring 38 runs in the last two overs, also forcing the batting up. The four sixes and two fours he hit between them meant he had done enough to break New Zealand’s spirits. In reality, Pakistan’s bowling showed and Afridi-Wasim cameos added to what was almost a certain victory.

Daniel Rasool is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @danny61000

Leave a Comment