The first round of pre-tournament matches were played on Friday, September 29, officially kicking off the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. The third exhibition match was place at Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium between Pakistan and New Zealand.
Babar Azam, the captain of Pakistan, decided to bat first after winning the toss. Imam-ul-Haq, the game’s first batter, was bowled out by Matt Henry in the inning’s third over, forcing Babar to move out to the middle early on.
The Pakistani captain lost no time in debuting his signature “cover drive” style of batting in India. The right-handed batter threw his bat at a widish delivery during the third ball of Jimmy Neesham’s ninth over, and navigated it towards the cover point boundary, signaling his entry into the World Cup.
— Daud. (@Cleanbowled258) September 29, 2023
The 28-year-old went on to play an outstanding innings, scoring 80 (84) runs on the strength of eight fours and two sixes. The Pakistani captain used a variety of strokes during his innings, delivering the ball to all parts of the ground. After the openers were dismissed early in the innings, the cricketer from Lahore participated in a 114-run partnership for the third wicket with Mohammad Rizwan off 110 balls that helped to consolidate the innings.
All boundaries of Babar Azam in today’s match… pic.twitter.com/zglBkwZCEo
— tifi (@BA_56__) September 29, 2023
Mohammad Rizwan scores an outstanding 100.
With nine fours and two sixes in his innings, Rizwan went on to achieve a stunning hundred (103 off 94). Pakistan’s innings was flawlessly concluded by Saud Shakeel (75 off 53), who smashed four maximums and five fours during his time at the crease.
The contributions of Agha Salman (33* off 23), Shadab Khan (16 off 11), and Iftikhar Ahmed (7* off 3) helped Pakistan reach 345/5 in the allocated 50 overs. The best bowler for New Zealand was Mitchell Santer, who finished with statistics of 2/39 (8 overs). Other wicket-takers included Matt Henry (1/8, 3 overs), Jimmy Neesham (1/59, 7 overs), and Lockie Ferguson (1/34, 4 overs).
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