‘Isko saare matches kyu nahi khilaaye?’ – Fans react as Fakhar Zaman smashes brilliant century in ODI World Cup 2023 clash against New Zealand

The 35th match of the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023 is being played between New Zealand and Pakistan at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday, November 4. After a tremendous batting performance from the Blackcaps due to which they amassed a massive total of 401 runs, the fans witnessed another brilliant batting performance from the Men in Green.

Chasing the monumental target of 402 runs, Pakistan suffered a huge blow as they lost their in-form opener Abdullah Shafique in the 2nd over. However, Fakhar Zaman, who was playing his only 3rd game of the tournament, displayed a jaw-dropping batting display which stole the limelight in Bengaluru.

Fakhar smashed the fastest-ever century by a Pakistan batter as it took him only 63 balls to achieve the milestone. He is currently batting on 106 runs after scoring 69 balls which included 7 fours and 9 sixes. However, the match was interrupted due to rain. But the Men in Green are ahead by 10 runs as per the DLS method.

Brilliant batting performance by New Zealand

Earlier, asked to bat first, New Zealand started brilliantly with a 68-run stand between Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra for the first wicket. However, Conway departed after scoring 35 runs. But Ravindra and skipper Kane Williamson put on a 180-run stand for the second wicket off just 141 balls. The duo started positively and then pressed on the accelerator during the 21-30 over phase which yielded 86 runs without any wicket. 

They didn’t allow the fifth bowling options of Iftikhar and Agha Salman to settle at all, not that the main bowlers were spared either. Unfortunately, Williamson missed his well-deserved century by 5 runs while Ravindra smashed his 3rd century of the tournament and also crossed the 500-run mark in the tournament.

After Ravindra and Williamosn’s brilliance, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Glenn Phillips, and Mitchell Santner cashed in on the momentum to provide the final flourish with quickfire knocks for all of them. Only Mohammad Wasim stood out again as he picked up 3 wickets, other than that, it was carnage. 

Here’s how fans reacted:

https://twitter.com/CrickFlicks/status/1720761486312685981