Cricket Highlights, 5 May: Pakistan vs New Zealand (4^th ODI)

Pakistan vs New Zealand (4th ODI) – Highlights

Yesterday, Pakistan and New Zealand faced off in the 4th match of the five-match ODI series at the Pakistan National Stadium, Karachi. Batting first in that match, Pakistan set a huge target to whitewash New Zealand. Later, New Zealand lost after going down to chase that target as the allotted 50 overs were completed. As a result, New Zealand lost 4 consecutive matches in this series. At the same time, Babar Azam won the man of the match title by batting brilliantly for Pakistan.

In the cricketing history of Pakistan, such a day has never occurred. They have never previously held the top spot in the ODI rankings. Finally, Babar Azam’s hands helped Pakistan make history. The unpredictables are now seated atop the rankings for the first time after defeating New Zealand by a large margin of 102 runs in the fourth one-day international of the series. After Australia-India, Pakistan is the best ODI team at the moment.

In addition, Babar Azmar entered the world record without having his bat laid on the wicket. With a personal-best 19 runs, he achieved a new record. By beating Hashim Amla, the Pakistani captain has completed the fastest 5000-run milestone in ODI cricket.

But is Babar happy with what he has? This batting sensation broke the world record match with a century. In the fourth ODI of the series, Pakistan amassed a massive 334 for 6 against New Zealand, building on his century in Karachi.

The Kiwis were unable to significantly advantage themselves after winning the toss and choosing to put Pakistan into bat. However, the fearsome Fakhar Zaman came back and scored 14 runs. Shan Masood, another opener, too batted for close to fifty runs before being dismissed (44). After setting with the bat Mohammad Rizwan (24) fell victim to the runout trap.

Together with Agha Salman, Babar added 117 runs in a 100-ball partnership for the fourth wicket. With him, Iftikhar Ahmed then added 41 points in 35 balls. With four boundaries and two sixes off of 46 balls, Salman was dismissed for 58. Iftikhar scored 28 points from 22 balls before getting out.

But in claiming the century, Babar did not err. The 107 runs the Pakistani skipper scored throughout his 117-ball innings came from the 10 boundaries he hit. He has now reached his 18th ODI century. In its last five overs, Pakistan tallied 70 runs. Shaheen Shah Afridi scored 1 four and 3 sixes off 7 balls for 23-run innings, while Mohammad Haris scored 17 off 8 balls.

Matt Henry, a Kiwi pacer, claimed three victims for 65 runs. Ben and Ish Sodhi also each took a wicket.

In the 2nd innings, 335 runs was a lofty goal for the Kiwis. That’s why, New Zealand was outscored by Pakistan’s run mountain and bowled out for 232 runs in 43.4 overs. Tom Latham led the team in runs scored with 60 runs. Daryl Mitchell scored 34 runs off 48 balls, Tom Blundell scored 23 runs off 29 balls, and Mark Chapman scored 46 runs off 33 balls.

After that, for a time, the run pursuit was going well for the Kiwis. Their run was 184 for 3 wickets after 33 overs. The visitors then lost the final 7 wickets, adding another 48 runs. In the end, they left field with a loss of a huge margin.

Usama Mir, a legspinner, got 4 wickets by himself, costing the team 43 runs. Haris Rauf grabbed two wickets for 37 runs, and pacer Wasim Khan took three for 40 runs. One wicket was also taken by Shaheen Afridi.

Pakistan vs New Zealand Scoreboard

Pakistan – 334/6 (50.0)

New Zealand – 232/10 (43.4)

Result – Pakistan won by 102 runs

Player of the match – Babar Azam

Babar Azam

Pakistan vs New Zealand Playing XIs