Match 35 of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 saw some insane hitting when Pakistan took on New Zealand at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. After winning the toss, Pakistan asked New Zealand to bat first, but that decision didn’t work out well.
New Zealand went on to post their highest ODI total in history. The Black Caps made 401 runs in the first inning, with a hundred from Rachin Ravindra. He scored his third hundred of the tournament and made 94-ball 108 runs. Kane Williamson also played well for his 95 off 79 balls.
Some other cameos in the middle helped New Zealand cross the 400-run mark for the first time in their history. It looked like an impossible task during the mid-inning break, but the second inning saw even more carnage. Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam took the team ahead of the required run rate before the rain stopped the game.
However, at one stage, Pakistani batters were trying to hit the ball, but nothing was happening. Skipper Babar Azam was also playing at a strike rate below 90. Babar was playing the anchor role when Fakhar was hitting sixes for fun.
At one stage, Fakhar was 106 off 69 balls, while Babar scored 47 runs off 51 balls when the first rain break arrived. However, former South African star Herschelle Gibbs seemed surprised by the approach of Babar Azam and went on to ask if Babar was trying to chase 400 runs or not.
Can someone tell babar they chasing 400 …
— Herschelle Gibbs (@hershybru) November 4, 2023
However, later, when the batting resumed after the rain break, Babar showed some intent when Pakistan needed to chase 342 runs in 41 overs. Pakistan made 200/1 in 25.3 when the game was called off, and Pakistan won it with 21 runs (DLS method). Fakhar was unbeaten on 126, while Babar was not out on 66 off 63 balls.
