Pakistan won the ODI series against Kiwis after 12 years and sounded alarm for rival teams ahead of ICC World Cup.
Babar XI defeated Kiwis by 26 runs in the third ODI to take a decisive 0-3 lead in the 5-match series.
In the third ODI played at the National Bank Cricket Arena in Karachi, New Zealand won the toss and invited Pakistan to bat first.
.@76Shadabkhan‘s bright cameo takes Pakistan to 287-6 following brilliant half-centuries from @ImamUlHaq12 and @babarazam258 🎯
Over to the bowlers after the break.#PAKvNZ | #CricketMubarak pic.twitter.com/dnul8v4SZC
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) May 3, 2023
Babralion scored 287 runs for 6 wickets in the allotted 50 overs. Opener Imamul Haq and Fakhar Zaman could only score 37 runs in the partnership for the first wicket, after which Fakhar Zaman was dismissed on an individual score of 19. Later, the captain Babar Azam and Imamul Haq added 108 runs in the partnership of the third wicket, after which Babar Azam returned to the pavilion after scoring 54 runs.
Abdullah Shafique got out after scoring 19 runs while opener Imamul Haq proved to be unlucky and could not score a century due to a deficit of 10 runs and got out after scoring 90 runs for a total score of 192.
Agha Salman played an innings of 31 runs and Mohammad Rizwan 32 runs while Shadab Khan scored 21 runs and Mohammad Nawaz remained not out by scoring 11 runs. Henry took 3 wickets and Adam Milne took two wickets from New Zealand.
Chasing 288 runs, the New Zealand team collapsed for 261 runs in 49.1 overs. Shaheen Shah, Naseem Shah and Wasim Jr took 2 wickets each for Pakistan.
After 2011, Pakistan won the ODI series against New Zealand and sounded the alarm for the rival teams in the ICC World Cup. Pakistan has taken a decisive lead of 0-3 in the 5-match series. The remaining two matches of the series will be played on May 5 and 7.
Thanks to the excellent performance against New Zealand, the Pakistan team got a golden opportunity to be ranked first in the ICC ODI rankings for the first time. After winning the remaining 2 matches of the series, Pakistan England is in fourth place in ODI rankings. , will overtake India and Australia and occupy the first position.