In Bengaluru on Saturday, Pakistan’s massive unbroken second-wicket stand of 194 between Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam gave them a 21-run victory in the second-wicket standings. Rachin Ravindra and Kane Williamson put on a 180-run second-wicket stand to take New Zealand to 401 for 6, a winning total on most days.
Babar narrated: “Back of the mind, we knew that the rain was coming, but unfortunately, the rain was too much, [we were] not expecting that much of rain. We just planned to build a partnership, I just tried to [hand over the] strike to Fakhar because he [seemed like he] was playing on a different pitch. We know we have a short boundary and we utilised it.”
With eight fours and eleven sixes in his 126 not out, Fakhar pounded the short boundary. Bowling to a left-right combination presented difficulties in addition to the big hits, which left Williamson and New Zealand with too much to do.
