New Zealand vs Pakistan Highlights, Cricket World Cup 2023: Fakhar Zaman’s blistering ton combined with a sublime half-century from Babar Azam gave Pakistan victory by 21 runs via the DLS method on Saturday. The win props up Pakistan’s chances of making the semis.
Zaman’s century will be right amongst the top knocks played in this World Cup. As for New Zealand bowlers, they were victims of some brutal hitting at a ground where plenty of bowlers have suffered the same fate before. Apart from Tim Southee, none of the bowlers looked penetrative on the evening.
Follow all the action from the Cricket World Cup 2023 on our special World Cup section. You can also find the latest stats, like the top scorer and the highest wicket-taker of the current edition, upcoming World Cup fixtures and the points table on the site.
Earlier, a century from Rachin Ravindra and a 95-run knock from Kane Williamson took New Zealand to a mammoth 401/6. It was a disappointing bowling performance from Pakistan. Mohammad Wasim Jr was the pick of the bowlers for them with three wickets.
Follow NZ vs PAK highlights.
New Zealand
401/6 (50.0)Pakistan
200/1 (25.3)Pakistan beat New Zealand by 21 runs (D/L method)
After beating New Zealand via the DLS method on Satruday, Pakistan could still sneak into the semis with one match left in the tournament. For that to happen, this is what needs to happen: Read our World Cup semifinal scenarios explainer.
New Zealand scored over 400 runs, and yet lost via the DLS Method after rain stopped play!
Click on this link to check what the World Cup points table looks like after that result.
For a player who had just 189 runs to his name at an average of 23.62 before the tournament began, Rachin Ravindra has taken the World Cup by storm. With a compact technique in place and timing being the key aspect of his batting, with Conway not at his fluent best, it is Rachin who has been proving them with rapid starts at the top. On Saturday, it was no different, as he quelled any sort of threat that Pakistan fast bowlers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Hasan Ali offered with the new ball, before constructing another wonderfully crafted century.
As a 15-year-old Rachin Ravindra made the cut for Wellington's Under-19 team, at 16 he was an Under-19 World Cupper. The world is realising how talented the New Zealand batsman with Indian roots is, but those who know him say, he always looked destined for great things.
Read Venkata Krishna B's feature on Rachin Ravindra from Bengaluru
And that's that folks Pakistan has beaten New Zealand to stay alive in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. What a turnaround this has been from them not long ago it seemed like they were out of the tournament but here we are they are pretty much alive in the tournament with a chance to qualify for the semifinals. As per the game, Fakhar Zaman's ton today will be right up there among the best in the tournament. It was just a destructive hitting from the Pakistan opener while he was hitting the bowlers all around the park Babar was playing in his artistic manner and took the team home. New Zealand has lost four games in four. They have lost the momentum completely and seems like their wheels are coming off now. They will play Sri Lanka in the game and there will be certainly a margin with which they have to win to qualify for the semifinals.
A day after Bangladesh called off their training session, Sri Lanka, too, decided to stay indoors rather than practice on Saturday due to the rising air pollution in New Delhi.
Bangladesh’s session, scheduled to be held on Saturday evening, also appeared to be in doubt as air quality plummeted to the ‘severe’ category. (Read more from Namit Kumar)
7.50 is the cut off time. And by the looks of it Pakistan are comfortably placed as they are runs ahead of New Zealand on DRS reports Venkata Krishna B.
Rain stops play yet again, Pakistan 21 runs ahead of DLS score
Babar Azam has gone past 50 now. He took the aggressive route against Sodhi. This might be a problem for New Zealand the more the ball rolls on the outfield the more it will be difficult to grip for the spinner because of the greasiness.180 from 20 overs is not a total that Pakistan would fear. Given the boundary size and surface today on offer and what has happened before the break rain has made things gotten even easier for Pakistan. If picking four seamers has been a mistake by Pakistan playing just two seamers seems to be even bigger than New Zealand at eh moment.
Play to resume at 6:20 PM, PAK needs 342 from 41 overs
Covers are coming off in Bengaluru we will have be have play resume soon.
Pakistan managed to live another day at the World Cup, courtesy a seven-wicket win over Bangladesh which kept their semifinals still alive. Bangladesh were knocked out of contention. Here is a look at how their semifinals prospects are placed.
Where are they now?
Their third win, which ended their four-game losing streak, helped them to jump past Afghanistan into the fifth spot. They have six points now, same as Afghanistan, who have a game in hand. They are set to play New Zealand and England, which are must-win games. (Read more from Venkata Krishna B)
Dark Bangalore clouds with a cool breeze wafting around can make the New Zealand players feel at home. Except they really can’t be. This scenic city’s undulating roads mirror their world cup campaign. After starting off with four successive wins, a run of three consecutive defeats has stuck New Zealand in the middle of nowhere, just like the city’s frenzied traffic, alongside Afghanistan and Pakistan, their opponents on Saturday.
Since the defeat to India, they lost a thriller to Australia before South Africa drilled a few new holes. The mounting injuries aren’t making it any easier. But unlike their opponents Pakistan, who too endured a three-match losing streak before getting back on track against Bangladesh and still find themselves in a sea of chaos, there is a certain calmness in the New Zealand ranks. (Read more from Venkata Krishna B)
What do you do with someone like Fakhar Zaman? Not many might remember but his sizzling hundred against India in the 2017 Champions Trophy final was the final straw that broke the camel’s back as far R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja go; both leaked 147 in 18 overs and went wicketless as Zaman put them out of white-ball cricket for a long while.
But that was then. He is now part of Pakistan’s problem in the first Powerplay. “We’re not getting what we would like to get out of our Powerplay,” Pakistan’s coach Grant Bradburn said ahead of their second game against Sri Lanka. (Read more from Tanishq Vaddi)
Sometime earlier this year, Ravi Krishnamurthy was in Bangalore along with his students from the Hutts Hawks Club in Wellington for one of their cricket tours to India. He took his son to a stock exchange bar in the city and asked him, “Remember this place in 2019?” Rachin Ravindra, the son, remembered it all too well; it was the place where he saw New Zealand play England in the 2019 world cup final. “I was like, ‘Yeah!’.
Five games into the 2023 World Cup, as he stands as the leading run scorer for New Zealand, Rachin hopes for another visit when the Kiwis play their last two league games in the Garden City. “It’s a great memory to look back at. Hopefully, we can make a little visit there,” he tells The Indian Express. (Read more from Rahul Pandey)
Rain has stopped play here. Pakistan has batted brilliantly so far. Pakistan is ahead in this game on the DLS method by 10 runs. This is a good break for New Zealand they can go back and reassess what has happened for Pakistan it is not that good as it may break the momentum for them.
We have finished the first water break and must say as of now Pakistan is right on course to chase this target however, still a lot of runs to get. New Zealand needs to be careful now they need to come up with a strategy of picking wickets rather than just looking to contain runs because that is not working at the moment. As they are restricting one side of the ground Zaman is hitting them in the other side. For Pakistan keeps doing the same thing. Let Babar hold an end up and the batters from the other end go after the bowling and right in the end he too can go after bowling as well. The lights are coming on here and things might get even better for batting.
It has gone a bit dark here suddenly we are still four overs away from getting to have DLS applied to this game. As of now New Zealand is operating all three spinners and is racing through the overs. While overate was terrible in the first innings New Zealand is getting through the overs. This is also interesting from Pakistan that Fakhar Zaman is not going after the leg-spinner but is smashing the off-spinner which is unusual in this matchup world. He is absolutely got hold of Phillips and he is bludgeoning him all around the ground. This is starting to get concerning now for New Zealand.
Fakhar Zaman has now gone past 50. Brilliant innings from the left-hander chasing a massive total he has come all guns blazing, especially against Trent Boult who is the premium bowler in this attack. He is picking his bowlers targetting them and putting immense pressure on them. New Zealand on the other hand seems to have come up with a T20 strategy of not letting him on one side of the ground and winning this game however, he smacked the bowler on the other side. Babar Azam at the moment is complimenting Fakhar Zaman well and he needs to continue to keep doing this for longer.
Glenn Phillips has been brought back into the attack and he has started with a maiden as well here. He was getting the nice revolutions of the ball hence he was able to extract a lot more spin. Fakhar Zaman who is in the destructive mode played out the over just to have sight against him. Phillips did bowl well against Travis Head and David Warner in the game against Australia as well. This partnership is growing nicely from Pakistan's perspective however, there are still a lot of runs to get, and not only the batters now but the batters to follow also need to keep the momentum going.
Spin has been brought into the attack early on by Kane Williamson. It was Mitchell Santner he chose to go with first. He did start well but slipped in a short one in the middle of the over which Babar rocked back to and hit for a maximum. Good start for Pakistan despite the wicket. Trent Boult has taken a proper pasting from one of the ends and that has prompted the bowling change from Williamson. Surprisingly these are still excellent conditions to bat and once the lights come on it might skid through even better. However, Pakistan needs to keep wickets and stay in the game till the end.
Tim Southee has been fabulous with this new ball today. As expected he is throwing in the cutters and taking one side of the ground out of the equation. It is something that Dwayne Bravo tends to do in the final over of the innings however, Southee seems to think that is the way to operate on this surface. Meanwhile Boult from the other end has not been getting his line and length right. He is spraying the ball all over the pitch. They have plenty to defend certainly but they need to put a lid on the scoring from both ends to create some sort of pressure on the batters.
Babar Azam has walked into the middle and it is a very important innings for him. He is yet to score a 100 in this tournament and today the stage is set for him. Will Pakistan win this game is a different issue altogether but if Babar can hold an innings up and other batters play freely from the other end this game can go deep. Fakhar Zaman at the other end is trying to play a few shots against this new ball but nothing seems to be working at the moment. New Zealand too have bowled well so far instead of looking to get too much out of the surface they stuck to their lines and lenghst right from ball one.
Trent Boult and Tim Southee have taken the new ball for New Zealand. There is not much of a swing on offer for both bowlers. They have not bowled a fuller length than Pakistan bowlers who tried to exploit conditions in the morning. We might see the Kiwi bowler bowl a lot more cutters with this new ball than the Pakistan bowlers did. Also, New Zealand today has only two seam bowling options and Mitchell can roll his arm over if needed with a bit of medium pace. Apart from that they have a leg-spinner in Sodhi, an Off-spinner in Phillips, and a left-arm in Santner. Meanwhile, as we update Shafique trying to hit a boundary of covers off Southee gets the ball high on the bat, and is caught by Williamson at extra cover.
Hi folks we have a slight delay of play due to rain in Bengaluru. The shower has passed and the groundstaff is working hard to dry the outfield. We might resume the action soon stay with us for more updates.
That's it, folks. It is looking already grim for Pakistan. At the toss, Babar was smiling when he opted to bowl first. Why wouldn't he be? He picked a combination that is suitable only for bowling first with four frontline seamers. Things turned ugly pretty quickly as well. Williamson and Ravindra made a mockery of the bowling attack. They were scoring boundaries all around the dial and they laid the foundation for this 400. Chapman and Phillips did chip in with handy cameos at the end. As for Pakistan bowling Shaheen has surpassed Rauf for having the worst bowling figures in the World Cups for Pakistan. Wasim Jr was the pick of the bowlers apart from that it has been disappointing. It is an uphill task for the Pakistan batters but they have to do it if they have to stay in the competition. A fascinating second half coming up stay with us.
New Zealand in the middle-overs (11-40) this World Cup
202/0 vs ENG, Ahmedabad
175/3 vs NED, Hyderabad
184/1 vs BAN, Chennai
142/3 vs AFG, Chennai
185/2 vs IND, Dharamsala
219/3 vs AUS, Dharamsala
241/3 vs PAK, Bengaluru
Haris Rauf has bowled the most expensive spell by a Pakistan bowler in an ICC event. He has overtaken Hasan Ali in the 2019 World Cup. It sums up Rauf's tournament in this World Cup. They could have accounted for many things going wrong in this World Cup but Shaheen not picking wickets with the new ball and Rauf going for runs is something for which they would have not been prepared whatsoever. While Wasim Jr has been a pleasant surprise Hasan Ali too has been pretty average in the tournament. The Men Green just struggled to pick wickets with the new ball.
Wasim Jr once again has been fabulous today with his death bowling. He is getting a reverse swing and he is a bowler who hits the stumps constantly and if the batter misses he hits. It is strange to see New Zealand still have not got Latham come into bat. Santner is the man who has come in. Glenn Phillips at the other end is tonking the ball around the park.It is highly unlikely that New Zealand would not get 400 from here on and now it is about how Pakistan would approach this chase. They need someone like Fakhar Zaman to score big ig they need to get anywhere near this total.
Sometime earlier this year, Ravi Krishnamurthy was in Bangalore along with his students from the Hutts Hawks Club in Wellington for one of their cricket tours to India. He took his son to a stock exchange bar in the city and asked him, “Remember this place in 2019?” Rachin Ravindra, the son, remembered it all too well; it was the place where he saw New Zealand play England in the 2019 world cup final. “I was like, ‘Yeah!’.
Five games into the 2023 World Cup, as he stands as the leading run scorer for New Zealand, Rachin hopes for another visit when the Kiwis play their last two league games in the Garden City. “It’s a great memory to look back at. Hopefully, we can make a little visit there,” he tells The Indian Express. (Read more from Rahul Pandey)
Haris Rauf has picked up Mitchell. The batter was trying to whack the ball over cow corner but got the inside edge and the ball hit the stumps. However, he along with Mark Chapman did the damage by keeping the momentum going. Glenn Phillips has walked into the middle and he is the designated finisher in this side and would be hoping to get a quickfire 50. New Zealand can get to 400 here and seems like this might be curtains for Pakistan for the tournament. One must say now it looks like a horrible call to win the toss and bowl first for Pakistan and going with those many seamers as well.
Afridi has had a forgettable outing today so far. He did not start well and is not bowling now either. He has been one bowler who has been dragging Pakistan single-handedly despite the rest of the team having an off day. But today it seems like he too is struggling. They had the moment of inspiration with those couple of quick wickets but the important part is they need to capitalise now. Because of the kind of bowling lineup skipper Babar has chosen, there has been no variation to the attack and it looked pretty one-dimensional throughout the 50 overs.
Ravindra departs finally. A couple of quick wickets for Pakistan. They have got an opening now. Ravindra tried to leg-glance a short ball from Wasim Jr but was caught by a deep fine-leg. A brilliant inning from what seems to be a star for the future. Mark Chapman has walked into the middle. With 14 overs to go New Zealand should be able to try and target 400 runs from here on. Pakistan, on the other hand, was craving for a wicket here they got two and they need to capitalize and bowl a few tight overs from here on and put the pressure back on the Kiwi batters.
Ravindra has now smashed his third hundred of the World Cup. It was a sublime knock from the player he looked in brilliant form right from the first ball. Unlike his previous games where he came to bat in at three today he opened and has been top quality. Ahead of the tournament, New Zealand were not sure of their top order however, here we are today. Meanwhile, Kane Williamson trying to go to his ton with a bang and is holed out at a long-on boundary and misses his ton. It has been a brilliant inning from Williamson on comeback helping his team to get to this massive total.
This is getting bad to worse for Pakistan. They have started the day with brilliant body language however now the shoulders have dropped. Hasan has bowled an ordinary over the last one and now Pakistan have a huddle. New Zealand are now looking good to get 400. Both batters are nearing their 100s' Williamson's acceleration since his 50 has been remarkable. It might be Ravindra who will get there first. Reaching landmarks is also one of those vulnerable moments where batters tend to lose wickets and this might be an opportunity for Pakistan to pick a wicket.
What a partnership this is turning out to be between Williamson and Ravidnra. They have complimented each other nicely here. One is a left-hander and one is a right-hander. One is someone who wants to keep the scoreboard ticking and the other one wants to bludgeon the bowling. However, in the last few overs things have turned around drastically with both batters looking for a boundary every over. The Pakistani commentators on AIR have been critical of Pakistan's lack of spin bowlers now. Only after Santner and Sodhi bowl in the second innings, we see if it is the right call or not.
Haris and Shaheen have been brought into attack now. This is the right move from Babar Azam looking for wickets however, it has been a sorry tale as they are delivering poor deliveries and are giving away easy boundaries. The lack of a frontline spinner seems to have handicapped Pakistan severely here. The way things have been going now it would have been better for Pakistan to win the toss and opt to bat first and put runs on the board. Now they not only have to deal with the pressure of getting knocked out but als have to handle the score board pressure in the chase.
Kane Williamson scores a 50. it has been an excellent comeback from the skipper again. He looked fantastic against Bangladesh and he is looking fantastic again today. Once again the pitch is excellent for batting and Williamson is looking good for a ton. New Zealand should definitely look to get over 330-mark from here on and it will be a massive chase for Pakistan this one. There won't be even the problem of dew in the second innings as well. And the pitch might continue to deteriorate as the game progresses. Babar was very happy when he won the toss and he won't be now.
The Kiwi batters have realized the Pakistan spinners are not frontline spinners and they are going after them now. They are hitting boundaries off good deliveries which is putting immense pressure on the spinners. Babar Azam has now played all his cards here and he is at the mercy of ball reversing later in the innings. If there won't be any reverse swing playing four seamers will look like terrible call as the surface is gripping and the likes of Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi will get something out of the surface. As of now it has been all New Zealand in this game.
Babar Azam has now turned to his sixth bowling in option in Agha Salman. The wicket is offering nothing to the seamers now. The ball is coming onto the bat nicely. Also, the disadvantage of having four seamers is the overrate from Pakistan has been poor. It might be an attempt to get through those overs quickly Babar is getting through a few overs of spin here. The way this partnership is growing it might be not a bad option for Pakistan to bring Shaheen Shah Afridi for a burst of few overs or Hasan Ali as well who looked excellent in his second spell.
Ravindra has gone past 50 now. Another brilliant innings from the Kiwi batter. Seems like New Zealand has unearthed a proper talent in this World Cup. He seems to have a top-class temperament and his technique too looks to be competent enough. In a must-win game, Rachin is batting beautifully. The conditions are brilliant for batting and Pakistan bowlers offer freebies on a regular basis if he can keep his head here there is a 100 for taking. Meanwhile Williamson from the other end seems like he has been batting forever and has never been injured. He looks in sublime touch as well.
Mohammed Wasim jr has been brought into the attack now. He did start a bit waverdly one of his deliveries was down the leg side which ran away for a boundary as Rizwan behind the stumps could take it cleanly. He is good at bowling a full one and letting the ball reverse this ball is it this ball is still not old yet but once we get to the 30th over mark we might be able to see his full skill. Iftikhar from the other end seems to have just found a bit of grip and turn on this surface. Babar continues to chop and change his bowlers constantly. He is trying to unsettle the batters constantly by having a new bowler in operation all the time.
We are done with the first water break and this phase has certainly belonged to New Zealand. They have gone about their business brilliantly they have punished anything which has been loose and kept the score board ticking. With the start, they have now got they should be looking to get over 300+ definitely. Ravindra has once again got a start and he would be hoping to convert this into a ton as well. Given the way conditions have played should Babar have batted is something to ponder upon. However, things might not have gone Pakistan's way this game so far but they have put their best efforts so far.
Rauf has induced another edge of Williamson however, there was no slip again. Once the second edge went through for a boundary Babar has introduced slip. Hasan Ali too has been topnotch from the other end. He has bowled with intent. He also bowled the odd heavy ball which surprised the batters. It will be interesting too when Babar turns to his fourth seamer Wasim Jr who has been a brilliant exponent of reverse swing as we have seen in Pakistan's previous game against Bangladesh. Right now he has opted for Iftikhar now. it will be also interesting to see how he operates his fifth bowler's overs because neither of them is an established spinner.
Kane Williamson has walked in and has started quickly off the blocks. He started with a lovely shot on the off-side and got on outside which ran away for a boundary the following delivery as well. Despite the wicket, this is an excellent start from New Zealand put under pressure they have come all guns blazing today. Haris Rauf today has bowled well today he has looked in good rhythm one of the deliveries he bowled to Kane Williamson hit the 150 KPH mark. He is bowling at full throttle. The ball is doing a bit in the last few overs suddenly the Pakistan bowlers have pulled their lengths back and are hitting the hard lengths.
It has been the tale of Pakistan's campaign in this World Cup where they tend to give the runs away or let the game drift away initially and later somehow manage to pull back things. Today once again it has been the case. They looked enthusiastic when they came in however, it went down as each over of the Powerplay has passed by. It is not like they did anything wrong with their fielding either their bowlers just could not make use of the conditions on offer. They still have to use Wasim Jr. and if they need Agha Salman who is an off-spinning option available for the side. Meanwhile, Hasan Ali picked up Conway by bowling a bumper which the left-hander tried to pull and got caught by the keeper as he could only manage to bottom edge.
Conway and Ravindra have started well here. They have put on a 50-run stand for the Kiwis. They have punished any loose ball on offer. Winning the toss and bowling first has not gone according to the plans for Pakistan so far. Babar is constantly chopping and changing the bowlers. He has changed Hasan Ali's ends and has brought him from the same end as Shaheen. We might see Rauf from Iftikhar's end who has not his mark yet in this game and will be hoping to do a better job once the powerplay is done. They need some wickets Pakistan here this looks like a batting paradise now.
Pakistan dropped Usama and brought in Hasan Ali, who has bowled only two overs before being taken off as Iftikhar Ahmed comes on. Iftikhar has been their economical bowler at the World Cup, but slightly confusing stuff from Pakistan reports Venkata Krishna B.
Iftikhar has been brought into the attack early in the piece it may be tactically the right move with two left-handers in the middle however, the idea of going with four seamers in the lineup was to exploit whatever was available with the new ball. Seems like Babar has thrown up the towel too early. It has been one of those things with Babar where he tends to give shorter bursts to the bowlers. However, they still have not picked up a wicket which is very important for them, or else if these two batters get going and put up a platform this score can be anything at the end of 50 overs.
Chants of Rachin, Rachin similar to Sachin, Sachin doing the rounds at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.Rachin's parents hail from Bangalore before they moved to New Zealand. Reports Venkata Krishna B.
We had a few sumptuous shots played from both batters now. The moment something has been pitched up they are playing drives. The sun is out and there is not much cloud cover at the moment. The Pakistan bowlers might be looking to pull their lengths back from here on and go a bit on the shorter side. It has been a feature of Pakistan bowlers throughout the tournament where they tend to bowl a good ball and deliver the poor in the same over something which Shaheen overcame in the previous game but seems like he is back to those poor habits again today.
Shaheen Shah Afridi and Hasan Ali have taken the new ball for Pakistan. There is a bit of moisture on this surface and expect a bit of seam moment on offer with this new ball. The first couple of overs it may not do much but once that shine goes on one side it may do a lot. Devon Conway after a fabulous start to his campaign has gone off the boil significantly. New Zealand needs him to do well today. They have made quite a lot of changes to New Zealand we only have to see which side has picked up the right lineup. If Pakistan can pick a few wickets in the Powerplay they will be more than happy.
There are already some dark clouds parking over the Chinnaswamy Stadium. There are predictions of rajn throughout the day starting from 11 am. If the game gets washed out, it would spell the doom for Pakistan reports Venkata Krishna B
Interesting and contrasting choices with the XI. Pakistan have dropped leg spinner Usama Mir and have included Hasan Ali. And New Zealand have brought in leg spinner Ish Sodhi for Matt Henry. NZ is expecting the pitch to slow down in the afternoon.. since Pakistan are bowling first, there decision to play Hasan may prove to be right one reports Venkata Krishna B.
Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson(c), Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham(w), Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Trent Boult
Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Iftikhar Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Agha Salman, Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Haris Rauf
Slightly different looking surface to what we expect here. We will try to put a competitive target and adapt to the conditions. Nice to be back out here, obviously few niggles in the camp and the guys are very excited for the challenge today. We have 2 changes. Ish Sodhi comes in for Matt Henry and I come in for Will Young. Looks like it might take some turn. For us, it's about sticking to our plans and adapting to conditions as best as we can