Pakistan and rain at ODI World Cups go back a long way. They won the World Cup, 31 years ago because rain abandoned a game against England at Adelaide, after they were bundled out for 74, which kept them in the competition.
History repeated itself in 2023 as the Men in Green defeated New Zealand by 21 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method at Bengaluru M. Chinnaswamy Stadium to give them the two points and keep them in contention to qualify for the semifinals.
ICC World Cup: Schedule | Results | Points Table | Most Runs | Most Wickets
Chasing a monumental 402 runs for a win, Pakistan got off to a disastrous start losing Abdullah Shafique for 4, caught superbly by Kane Williamson who ran backwards and plucked the catch near the long-off boundary off Tim Southee’s bowling.
But then began the rebuild. A destructive rebuild courtesy Fakhar Zaman, who took a liking to the leg-side boundaries of the venue against the pacers and straight boundaries off the spinners, clearing the boundaries with ease to put New Zealand on the backfoot.
Zaman got to his century off 63 balls – the fastest by a Pakistani batter in ODI World Cup history. The southpaw and skipper Babar Azam put Pakistan in the driver’s seat in the game.
But then came a new twist. At 4:50 pm, the heavens opened up and halted play. Pakistan were 160-1 in 21.3 overs and 10 runs ahead in the DLS par score.
90 minutes of play was lost and when it resumed, at 6:20 pm, Pakistan’s chase was no less daunting as before, needing 342 runs 41 runs to keep themselves in contention for a semifinals spot.
When play resumed, it did not seem like Zaman had ever left the crease, as he continued to hammer the spin of Ish Sodhi towards the mid-wicket boundary. 17 minutes after resumption, the rain was back again with Pakistan 200-1 in 25.3 overs.
The rain refused to leave this time around at 7:25 pm, 15 minutes before the cut-off time, the match was abandoned and the Men in Green took home the points.
Earlier in the day, Rachin Ravindra became the first New Zealand batter to score three centuries in a single ODI World Cup, making 108 runs off 94 balls and putting on 180 runs for the second wicket with comeback man Kane Williamson, who stroked his way a 79-ball 95.
Cameos from Glenn Phillips (41 runs off 25 balls), Mark Chapman (39 runs off 27 balls), Daryl Mitchell (29 runs off 18 balls) and Mitchell Santner (26 runs off 17 balls) took the Kiwis to an imposing 401 for 6 in their 50 overs.
Williamson, who returned to action for the first time since suffering a fractured thumb in the game against Bangladesh in Chennai, replaced Will Young in the playing XI. Leg-spinner Ish Sodhi replaced James Neesham in the playing XI.
Pakistan made one change to the team that beat Bangladesh, bringing in Hasan Ali for Usama Mir.
Brief Scores: New Zealand 401 for 6 (Ravindra 108, Williamson 95) lost to Pakistan 200-1 in 25.3 overs (Zaman 126*, Azam 66*) by 21 runs on DLS method.
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