Men in Green Pakistan won the 2nd match of the ongoing 5-match ODI series against Black Caps. While the mammoth target of 337 runs in 48.2 that took place in Rawalpindi on Saturday.
In response, the Babar Azam-led side scored 337 runs in 48.2 overs courtesy of Fakhar Zaman’s unbeaten 180 off 147 balls that included 17 fours and 6 sixes in his flamboyant inning and PAK won the match by 7 wickets. This was the left-handed opening batter Fakhar Zaman’s second consecutive century in the series.
Skipper of the side Babar Azam also scored 65 off 66 balls and while wicket-keeper batter Mohammad Rizwan scored 54 off 41 balls. This is a five-match ODI series, the first match of which was also won by Pakistan by 5 wickets.
PAK beats NZ
Fakhar Zaman also smashed 117 runs in the first match as well against the Black Caps. Earlier, For NZ, Daryl Mitchell scored 129 runs in 119 balls in the 2nd ODI. But that went in vain as NZ can’t secure the score of 336 runs against the PAK side. This was also his second consecutive century but Zaman’s innings faded it.
After the match, Fakhar called it his lucky day as he was dropped by Jimmy Neesham after his half-century. He also said that Mohammad Rizwan made my work easy on the other side while scoring runs with ease and he told him to stay at the crease till the end.
During this, the Pakistani batter did not spare 2nd-placed in the ODI ranking NZ spinners Ish Sodhi and Rachin Ravindra at all. While Sodhi claimed 1 wicket for 79 runs, Rachin leaked 75 runs while taking no wicket. Both the spinners conceded 154 runs while bowling 20 overs.
For the second ODI, The Hosts rested its star fast bowler Shahid Afridi and all-rounder Shadab Khan against NZ. In Shaheen’s absence, except Naseem Shah, all other Pakistan bowlers were seen struggling in front of Mitchell and Tom Latham.
PAK vs NZ 2nd ODI Highlight
Wicketkeeper batter and skipper of Black Caps Latham also played an inning of 95 runs off balls and missed his well-deserved hundred by 5 runs until he was dismissed by Haris Rauf. The fast bowler Naseem Shah took 1 wicket for 49 runs in 10 overs. But it was Rauf who grabbed four big wickets despite conceding 78 runs in 10 overs.
The third match between PAK and NZ will take place on 3rd May. The third, fourth and fifth matches will be played at the National Stadium in Karachi. Earlier, there was an exciting five-match T20 series between the two countries which ended in a 2-2 draw. The first two matches were won by the PAK team and NZ made a comeback by winning the third match.
But the 4th match ended in no result and then NZ won the fifth match by 6 wickets to level the series. However, PAK’s team is now seen winning in the ODI series.