Swashbuckling opener Fakhar Zaman on Saturday cracked a blistering century to save Pakistan from Cricket World Cup elimination in a dramatic 21-run victory over New Zealand, as Australia knocked defending champions England out with a 33-run win.
The 33-year-old left-hander smashed 11 sixes and eight boundaries in his unbeaten 81-ball 126 in Bengaluru, India.
However, rain forced a premature end to the match, with Pakistan 200-1 after 25.3 overs, chasing a revised Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method target of 342 in 41 overs.
Photo: AFP
“We know that every game is do or die for us,” Zaman said.
Rachin Ravindra hit his third century of the tournament, while Kane Williamson scored 95 to help New Zealand pile up 401-6 in their 50 overs.
Set a mammoth 402-run target initially, Zaman lifted Pakistan to 160-1 after 21.3 overs before a 90-minute stoppage due to rain led to a revised target for Pakistan.
After the resumption, Zaman kept up the tempo, hitting three sixes off spinner Ish Sodhi’s 25th over as Pakistan went past the 200-mark.
Zaman took the attack to the New Zealand bowlers, smashing four sixes and as many boundaries in his 39-ball fifty.
He completed his 11th one-day international (ODI) century, and first in a World Cup, with a six and a single off Mitchell Santner.
His century came off 63 balls with nine sixes and six boundaries.
“We saw something special today from Pakistan,” said Williamson whose team have now lost four games in a row after starting the tournament with four wins.
“When Zaman’s going, not many grounds are big enough and certainly this wasn’t. He just hit it to all parts. So credit to the way Pakistan came out and achieved what they did today,” he said.
Pakistan now have eight points from as many games with their last match against England in Kolkata on Saturday.
They not only need to win that, but also hope New Zealand lose to Sri Lanka on Thursday or the match is hit by rain.
As a consequence of Pakistan’s win, South Africa became the second team alongside India to make the semi-finals.
Before Saturday, only two teams had ever scored 400 in an ODI and lost. Australia scored 434-4 against South Africa in Johannesburg in 2006 before the Proteas made 438-9 to win by one wicket. In 2009 at Rajkot, Sri Lanka made 411-8, just failing to catch India’s 414-7.
Meanwhile, Australia spinner Adam Zampa starred in their defeat of England.
Chasing 287 for victory in Ahmedabad, England folded for 253 in 48.1 overs despite a valiant 64 from Ben Stokes to slump to their sixth defeat in seven matches and stay bottom of the 10-team table.
Five-time champions Australia edged closer to securing a semi-final berth with their fifth straight win.
Zampa returned figures of 3-21 with his leg-spin to puncture England’s hopes that were raised by a couple of partnerships including a 63-run fifth-wicket stand between Stokes and Moeen Ali, who hit 42.
“We put on a really competitive total, but it was going to be tough to defend,” Zampa said. “The ground felt really dewey, really wet. So length control, attacking the stumps, trying to guess what the batsman was going to do was really important.”
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
RSS