PAK vs NZ, World Cup warm-up: Mohammad Rizwan hundred not enough as New Zealand chase down 346 in Hyderabad
New Zealand flexed their batting muscle in their first warm-up match as they showed signs of things to come.
In the Cricket World Cup with a comfortable 5-wicket win over Pakistan in a high-scoring match in Hyderabad on Friday. In a match that was played behind closed doors, New Zealand comfortably chased down 346 in just 43.4 overs to seal a 5-wicket victory.
New Zealand rode on Rachin Ravindra’s sensational 72-ball 97 and fifties from Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell and cameos from Mark Chapman (41-ball 65) and James Neesham (21-ball 33) as New Zealand made light work of a steep chase.
Rachin Ravindra opened the batting for the first time as New Zealand experimented with their batting line-up in the unofficial match in which all 15 players were allowed to play.
It was a good hit out in the middle for Kane Williamson, who smashed 8 boundaries for his 50-ball 54. Williamson has been ruled out of New Zealand’s World Cup opener against England on October 5 and he tested his fitness at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Friday after having returned from a long injury layoff. Williamson suffered a knee injury in the IPL 2023 opener while playing for Gujarat Titans and underwent surgery in April.
“It has held up pretty well and some icing now which is a part of the process. Wasn’t a reality 5 months ago, was fortunate with the recovery and nice to be named in the squad. Went pretty well and nice to build on that. A fantastic hit-out,” Kane Williamson said after New Zealand won the match.
Rachin put his hand up, if New Zealand require a batter at the top in the absence of Williamson in their opener. Meanwhile, Mitchell continued his consistent run in the middle-order while Chapman also auditioned for a finisher’s role as Glenn Philips failed to get going.
NO SHADAB, SHAHEEN FOR PAKISTAN
Pakistan did not play their full-strength bowling attack as they rested Shaheen Shah Afridi. Hasan Ali, who was a late inclusion in the side as a replacement for injured Naseem Shah, gave away 66 runs in 7.4 overs. Mohammad Wasim Jr also bowled 7 overs and conceded 58 runs.
Meanwhile, out-of-form Shadab Khan did not bowl for Pakistan as they gave an opportunity to leg-spinner Usama Mir who bowled all 10 overs and picked up 2 wickets.
RIZWAN HITS CONFIDENT HUNDRED
Pakistan batters also had a good hit in the middle with usual suspects Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan making merry after Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq failed to get going. Pakistan did not play Fakhar Zaman in the first warm-up match.
Rizwan hit a 94-ball 103 while batting at No. 4 for Pakistan against New Zealand. The right-hander hit 2 sixes and 9 boundaries and stitched a 114-run partnership with Babar Azam, the skipper. Rizwan and Babar took the counter-attacking approach after Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq were out cheaply.
Babar was out for 80 in the 30th over but Mohammad Rizwan carried on and completed a century before he retired hurt in the unofficial international match where teams can use all their 15 players.
Pakistan posted a mammoth total of 345 after Saud Shakeel hit 75 and Agha Salman came up with a quickfire 33.