KARACHI:
Pakistan won by 26 runs against New Zealand in third ODI in Karachi on Wednesday.
Earlier, left-handed stylish opener Imam-ul-Haq led Pakistan from the front amid controlled bowling by New Zealand to restrict the home side to 287-6 in the third ODI in Karachi on Wednesday.
Fakhar Zaman, who scored two consecutive tons in the first two ODIs of this series, departed earlier. The left-handed batsman didn’t find rhythm in today’s match and had to leave after giving away his wicket to Matt Henry.
Imam continued his form from the previous two contests and built momentum alongside captain Babar Azam. The two batters shared the crease for an amazing partnership of 108 runs. Meanwhile, Babar completed his 26th half-century but couldn’t get to his 5000 ODI runs. He is just 19 runs short to this milestone.
On the other hand, Imam was looking good to finally score a ton in this series. But, he once again fell on nervous 90. His innings included 7 boundaries and a maximum.
In the end, Mohammad Rizwan and Agha Salman tried to add some runs for Pakistan. They both scored 54 runs together.
Earlier, New Zealand won the toss and sent Pakistan to bat in a must-win match for the visitors as they are 2-0 down in the series.
Haris Rauf, Ihsanullah, and Usama Mir are replaced by Wasim Jr, Shaheen Afridi, and Shadab Khan in the Pakistan XI.
New Zealand
Will Young, Tom Blundell (wk), Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (c), Mark Chapman, Henry Nicholls, Cole McConchie, Adam Milne, Henry Shipley, Ish Sodhi, Matt Henry
Pakistan
Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (c), Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Shadab Khan, Agha Salman, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah
