‘Rain is the real hero’ – Fans react as Pakistan stay alive in contention for semis after 21-run win by DLS method over New Zealand

The Pakistan cricket team won their eighth clash of the ODI World Cup 2023 on November 4 at M. Chinnaswamy Cricket Stadium in Bangalore by 21 runs as per the DLS method. Notably, Babar Azam and Co. are currently placing themselves in the fifth spot and are still in the race for the semi-final spot.

Speaking about the game here, it was Pakistan skipper Babar Azam who won the toss and invited New Zealand to bat first. Notably, after being sent to bat fits the Black Caps posted a massive total of 410/6 in the given 50 overs, owing to fantastic performances from Rachin Ravindra and Kane Williamson.

However, during the chase, Pakistan’s opening batsman, Fakhar Zaman, played an imperative knock, which guided his side to win the game after rain halted the play. The southpaw hammered unbeaten 126 runs from 81 balls, featuring eight boundaries and 11 sixes, with a solid strike rate of 156, which helped them defeat the in-form Kiwis.

This is one of the best knocks in ODI cricket: Fakhar Zaman

Meanwhile, Fakhar Zaman, who received the Player of the Match award, has expressed his happiness in a post-match presentation. The star cricketer reveals that he had planned to do most of the damage in the first four overs, which he did. In addition, the top-order batsman feels he was lucky enough for Pakistan today, and he enjoyed his innings the most. The left-handed batsman had planned to play aggressive cricket in their do-or-die clash.

“We were chasing 400 and that was our plan, just to see off the first 4 overs and thankfully it was my day. To be honest, I was lucky a few times but really enjoyed this innings. We know every game is a do-or-die for us and we have decided to play aggressively and we are playing with that mind so everybody is just trying to score runs. This is one of the best (knocks in ODI cricket). We wanted to play with that aggressive mindset and we will play aggressively in the next game also,” Fakhar Zaman said in the post-match presentation.

Check out how fans have reacted to this win: