PAK vs NZ 2nd ODI: Fakhar Zaman 180 Helps Pakistan To Beat Newzeland By 7 wickets
PAK vs NZ 2nd ODI: Fakhar followed his 117 in the first ODI with another entertaining unbeaten 180 off 144 balls as Pakistan pulled off its second highest successful run chase.
Crickate
PAK vs NZ 2nd ODI: In the second one-day international played on Saturday, Fakhar Zaman's second consecutive century led Pakistan to a comfortable seven-wicket victory over New Zealand.Fakhar followed up his 117 in the first ODI with an entertaining unbeaten 180 off 144 deliveries as Pakistan accomplished the second highest successful run chase in ODI history.
Pakistan scored 337-3 in 48.2 overs in response to New Zealand's 336-5 in which Daryl Mitchell scored a career-high 129 runs off 119 deliveries for his second consecutive century.Fakhar exacted a hefty price from New Zealand for dropping him twice shortly after his half-century. He hit 17 fours and six sixes to help Pakistan claim a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
"It was my lucky day to score again against New Zealand," Fakhar said after being dropped in consecutive overs bowled by James Neesham following his half-century off 44 balls and 10 fours.
"When I play with (Mohammad) Rizwan, I have a great deal of freedom, and he has made things simpler for me. I was instructed to remain at the crease until the final whistle.Fakhar added 135 runs with captain Babar Azam (65) and an unbroken 119 with Rizwan (54 not out), who survived two near run-outs and overturned a caught behind call against him on review.
Fakhar was particularly harsh on the New Zealand spinners Ish Sodhi (1-79) and Rachin Ravindra (0-75), who gave up 154 runs in 20 overs.Pakistan elected to spare regular bowlers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shadab Khan and re-assigned the toss to New Zealand. The remaining Pakistani bowlers struggled against Mitchell and Tom Latham, except for Naseem Shah.
Chad Bowes' run-a-ball 51 was followed by a 183-run partnership between Mitchell and Latham, who scored 98 off 85 deliveries. Both batsmen made the début of fast bowler Ihsanullah a costly one, scoring 0-60, and also picked off Haris Rauf despite his taking 4-78.
Mitchell and Latham's aggression enabled New Zealand to score 98 runs in the final ten overs against Pakistan's careless fielding.
"At the halfway point, we were fairly content, but credit to Fakhar, he played an outstanding knock," said Latham. They were able to form partnership after partnership. We have been able to do this in the last few games, but we need to generate more opportunities in the middle phases.
Pakistan could have prevented Mitchell from reaching a century, but Naseem Shah made a routine catch at mid-on when Mitchell was on 96. Mitchell reached the century mark after 102 deliveries.His brilliant knock included eight fours and three sixes, and Mohammad Nawaz took a spectacular diving catch at deep square leg to end it.
Rauf caught a thin inside edge of Latham's bat, preventing him from scoring a century.Next week, Karachi will host the remaining three ODIs of the series.
