On Saturday, Babar Azam’s fifty helped Pakistan beat New Zealand by six wickets. After beating Bangladesh by 21 runs on Friday, Babar’s 79 from 53 balls helped his team take control of the series. The day’s news is that Pakistan beat New Zealand thanks to a great game by Babar Azam.
PAK VS ENG | Powered by Babar’s outstanding play, Pakistan wins!
All three teams are preparing for the T20 World Cup at Hagley Oval. Babar’s hit moved New Zealand with ten balls left from 147-8 to 149-4. Babar was 27 when Tim Southee bowled, and Glenn Phillips dropped a catch.
The opener got his 28th half-century in T20 internationals, putting him behind only Virat Kohli (33). Southee quickly got rid of Mohammad Rizwan, who was unbeaten with 78 runs against Bangladesh, and the middle order for Pakistan had a hard time. Babar’s presence made sure that his team would win. Blair Tickner’s (2-42) last over gave him and Haider Ali 21 runs.
Babar and Shadab put up 61 runs together on the third wicket. This was a World Cup strategy, with the all-rounder batting higher. Mark Chapman’s late hits saved New Zealand’s batsmen. After opener Devon Conway (36 off 35 balls) and captain Kane Williamson (32 off 16 balls), Chapman scored 32 off 16 balls (31 off 30). Both of them had trouble with timing during their 61-run second-wicket stand.
Williamson has only reached 50 twice in 29 innings over the last 18 months. Chapman was clean-bowled when he tried to slog-sweep a slower ball from spinner Mohammad Nawaz. He then hit a slower ball from pacer Haris Rauf into the stands (3-28). New Zealand plays Bangladesh in the game on Sunday.
“We want to use Shadab’s skills by sending him up to charge the bowlers,” Babar said.
“He did a great job. We had planned for me to go all the way and for Shadab to take a chance.”
Playing XI
Pakistan: Babar Azam (C), Mohammad Rizwan, Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Haider Ali, Asif Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim, Haris Rauf, Shahnawaz Dahani
Devon Conway, Finn Allen, Kane Williamson, Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, James Neesham, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Blair Tickner, and Ish Sodhi are all from New Zealand.
