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A pivotal match pitted Pakistan and New Zealand against each other. In order to improve their prospects of advancing to the semifinals, both teams had to win. Kane Williamson, the captain, Mark Chapman, and Ish Sodhi all made their way back to New Zealand. While Matt Henry has been declared ineligible for the event, Will Young and James Neesham were benched. After winning the toss, Pakistan decided to bowl first, substituting Hassan Ali for Usama Mir. New Zealand scored 401 runs in the first innings. Here is a recap of the first innings.
New Zealand goes big in the powerplay
There was no grass on the Chinnaswamy Stadium surface, and the Pakistani pacers were unable to find any lateral movement. In the second over, Hasan Ali gave up the first boundary of the game when Rachin Ravindra struck a four. In the third over, Devon Conway hit his first four off the bowling of Shaheen Afridi. Hasan was still pricey, giving up two fours in his next over.
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In the sixth over, Hasan was replaced in the attack by Iftikhar Ahmed. In his first two overs, he also got off to a bad start, giving up three boundaries. In the seventh over, Afridi was hammered for three fours and continued to be pricey. After swapping ends with Afridi, Hasan bowled a quiet over that yielded three runs. After giving up seven runs in his opening over, Haris Rauf bowled the final over of the powerplay and was hit for a four. The powerplay saw 66 runs scored by New Zealand.
Williamson and Ravindra decimate the Pakistani attack
As Hasan broke the opening stand by dismissing Conway, the change of ends worked in his favour. In this format, this was Hasan’s 100th wicket. With six fours, the Kiwi leadoff player scored 35 runs in 39 balls. Rauf remained costly, and Kane Williamson struck him for two boundaries. In his next over, Williamson hit Rauf for four more runs, carrying on his attack. After surpassing Ross Taylor to achieve 1000 runs in the World Cup, the Kiwi captain now stands as the second-highest run-scorer from New Zealand in World Cup history, trailing only Stephen Fleming (1075).
Pakistan’s spin-bowling woes continue
In the fifteenth over, Iftikhar returned to the attack and was greeted by a four from Ravindra, who conceded seven runs. In the 17th over, Iftikhar bowled a calm two runs. After coming into the attack in the 18th over, Mohammad Wasim Jr. got off to a bad start, conceding five runs off of wides. In 51 balls, Ravindra reached his half-century mark in the 20th over.
When Agha Salman entered the attack in the twenty-first over, Ravindra greeted him with a boundary. Salman’s suffering didn’t end there as Ravindra and Williamson struck him for four and six, respectively, in his next over. In the 25th over, Salman was replaced by Iftikhar, who entered the attack once again. However, the 33-year-old occasional spinner did not fare much better, as he was struck for three fours. Shaheen Afridi, Babar’s main weapon, returned to the attack. In 49 balls, Williamson reached his half-century. Rauf was also hauled back from the other end, but he was still costly as he let up 21 runs in his two overs.
After 30 overs, New Zealand had amassed 211 runs with just one wicket lost. Ravindra reached the nineties when Hasan gave up eighteen runs in the thirty-second over. In just 87 balls and the 34th over, he achieved his century. In their inaugural World Cup, he became the first player to score three centuries.
Pakistan bounce back with a couple of wickets
In the next over, Williamson attempted to hit his century with a six, but Iftikhar removed him. Williamson blasted two sixes and ten fours to score 95 runs off of just 79 balls. Wasim Jr. dismissed Ravindra in the next over, denying the Blackcaps both of their set batters. With 15 fours and 1 six in 94 balls, Ravindra amassed 108 runs.
Mitchell and Chapman score some quick runs
In the 37th over, Daryl Mitchell began his attack by hitting two boundaries off Rauf’s bowling. Shaheen too continued to be costly; in the 38th over, the left-arm pacer gave up 13 runs and was hammered for three boundaries. In the 39th over, Hasan came in for Rauf and was struck for seven runs. Shaheen gave up 16 runs in his over and was hit for three boundaries by Mark Chapman in the 40th over. Mitchell hit Hasan for a six and a four from the other end, costing him 11 runs in the over.
After Shaheen was replaced, Rauf struck with the opening ball of the new stint to end the 57-run stand. Mitchell was removed by Rauf with an off-cut that the Kiwi batsman pulled onto the stumps. Mitchell blasted four fours and one six to score 29 runs in just 18 balls. Glenn Phillips hit two fours in the same over to cap off an entertaining eight run-over.
Hasan finished with stats of 10-0-82-1 after giving up 11 runs in his ten overs of bowling in the final. Wasim removed Chapman in the 45th over, displaying his remarkable form in the death overs. Chapman smacked seven fours and scored 39 runs in just 27 balls.
Pakistan leak runs in death overs
Pakistan were expensive in the last five overs and conceded 54 runs (44-5-50). Rauf conceded 13 runs off his final over in the 46th over and ended with figures of 10-0-85-1. Wasim conceded six runs in the 47th over. Shaheen was hit for a six by Phillips in the 48th over and conceded 10 runs. Wasim bowling the penultimate over was hit for a six and a four but had the last laugh by dismissing Phillips. Phillips scored 41 runs in 24 balls hitting four fours and two sixes. Wasim was the most impressive bowler from the Pakistani side and ended with figures of 10-0-60-3. Shaheen ended with the most expensive figures for a Pakistani bowler in World Cups. He went wicket-less and ended with figures of 10-0-90-0.