PAK vs NZ, World Cup 2023 Match 35: Awards List, Man of The Match, Key Stats, Presentation Ceremony

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PAK vs NZ, World Cup 2023 Match 35: Pakistan defeated New Zealand by 21 runs (DLS) method on Saturday to stay alive in the World cup 2023. Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman blasted 126 unbeaten runs off 81 runs and the same helped Pakistan stay 21 runs ahead of the DLS par score when rain interrupted the match for the second time at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

After being invited to bat first, New Zealand piled up 401/1 in 50 overs. Rachin Ravindra opened with Devon Conway and hit his third hundred of the tournament. New Zealand captain Kane Williamson returned from his thumb injury and scored 95 off 79.

Pakistan pacers Shaheen Ali (0/90), Haris Rauf (1/85) and Hasan Ali (1/82) were hammered all over the park. Mohammad Wasim Jr was the most successful bowler with three wickets for 60 runs in 10 overs.

New Zealand looked set to win the match and bring their campaign back on the track after three consecutive defeats. However, Fakhar Zaman hit the fastest World Cup hundred for Pakistan off 63 balls to spoil New Zealand's party. Pakistan were 10 runs ahead of New Zealand when rain stopped play for the first time.

The revised target after the break was 342 from 41 overs with Pakistan batting on 160/1 in 21.3 overs. The Men in Green had scored 200/1 in 25.3 overs when the play stopped again before being called off completely.

PAK vs NZ, World Cup 2023: Full List of Awards

Man of the Match: Fakhar Zaman (PAK) for scoring 126 unbeaten runs off 81 balls. His innings consisted of eight fours and 11 sixes.

PAK vs NZ, World Cup 2023: Who Said What?

Babar Azam (Pakistan captain): When we came to the dressing room, just passed message we need good partnerships. Said to Fakhar if he plays 15 overs we'll be ahead. Back of the mind we knew rain was coming. Full credit to Fakhar. We knew there was a short boundary and utilised it. We're just trying to give 100 percent. You never know. We're just going match by match.

Kane Williamson (New Zealand captain): Williamson: Obviously a nice first half. Weather played its part but can't take away from Pakistan. Zaman - the ground wasn't big enough for him. They played exceptionally well and gave themselves every chance. Match getting shortened brings both teams closer together.

Would've been nice to have the full 50. Was tricky to protect the shorter side. Full credit, they deserved the result today. I thought the contributions throughout were great. Clearly a very good surface. Can be tough on the bowlers sometimes. Rachin is batting absolutely beautifully. There's always small margins with the ball. If you get a wicket or two, you can take the short side out of it with the left-right combo. But we couldn't do that.

Fakhar Zaman (Man of the Match): We were chasing 400 and that was our plan, just to see off the first 4 overs and thankfully it was my day. To be honest, I was lucky a few times but really enjoyed this innings. We know every game is a do or die for us and we have decided to play aggressively and we are playing with that mind so everybody is just trying to score runs.

This is one of the best (knocks in ODI cricket) but I will always rank my 193 in South Africa highly, but I really enjoyed this game and New Zealand are a great side, so definitely one of the best. We were also praying that we don't want any more game to happen (while waiting anxiously in the dressing room during the rain break) because it was already 9 and half hours and we knew that DLS would come into the equation. We wanted to play with that aggressive mindset and we will play aggressively in the next game also.

PAK vs NZ Key Stats

• 11: Fakhar Zaman equalled Shahid Afridi's record for most sixes by a Pakistan batter in an ODI innings
• Fakhar Zaman is the fourth batter after Eoin Morgan, Chris Gayle and Martin Guptill to hit more than 10 sixes in a World Cup innings
• Zaman and Babar Azam equalled Saeed Anwar and W Wasti record for highest partnership by Pakistan pair for any wicket. The duo partnered for 194 unbeaten runs. Anwar and Wasti had also achieved the feat against New Zealand in 1999 World cup
• Shaheen Afridi (0/90) bowled the most expensive spell by a Pakistan bowler in World Cups