Karachi: Babar Azam’s XI defeated New Zealand by 26 runs in the third ODI of the 5-match series, while the national team managed to defeat the Kiwis in the series after 12 years.
Opener Imam-ul-Haq was declared the man of the match, in the third match of the one-day series at the National Stadium, Karachi, Pakistan scored 287 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in the allotted 50 overs while batting first at the invitation of New Zealand. Imam-ul-Haq stood out by scoring 90 runs, he got bowled due to the nervous nineties.
Captain Babar Azam 54, Muhammad Rizwan 32, Agha Salman 31, Abdullah Shafiq and Fakhar Zaman 19, 19 were dismissed. Muhammad Nawaz scored 11 runs and Shadab Khan remained unbeaten with 21 runs.
On behalf of New Zealand, Matt Henry took 3 wickets, Adam Mullen took 2 wickets and Cole McConchie took one.
New Zealand opener Will Young scored 33, Daryl Mitchell 21, Mark Champion 13, Henry Nicholls 1, captain Tom Latham 45, Henry Shipley 7, Ash Sodhi and Matt Henry scored one run each.
Tom Blundell was run out on 65 runs. International cricket debutant Cole McConkey scored 63 runs and returned to the pavilion unbeaten.
On behalf of Pakistan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Muhammad Wasim took two wickets, while Agha Salman got one wicket. All-rounder Muhammad Nawaz got injured in the match.Pakistan team managed to defeat New Zealand in the series after 12 years, the last time Misbah-ul-Haq led the national team won the series against the Kiwi team in 2011.
Pakistan need just two wins to become the number one team. On the other hand, in the third ODI match against New Zealand at the National Stadium, Babar Azam and Imamul Haq equaled the record of most century partnerships of Muhammad Younis and Muhammad Yousuf.
After Fakhr Zaman’s dismissal in the third ODI against the Kiwis, captain Babar Azam and Imamul Haq added 108 runs to the score. This was the 9th time in ODIs that both the batsmen have scored 100 runs in the partnership.
With this partnership, Babar Azam and Imam-ul-Haq equaled the record of most century partnerships for Pakistan held by the famous cricketers of the past Muhammad Younis and Muhammad Yousuf.
