KARACHI, FEB 14: Skipper Mohammad Rizwan and vice captain Salman Ali Agha have steadied Pakistan’s ship in final match of Tri-Nation Series against New Zealand after getting early blows at the National Bank Stadium in Karachi on Friday.
Within 12 overs Pakistan had lost three wickets, including that of star batter Babar Azam (29), who chipped a return catch to Nathan Smith. Opener Fakhar Zaman (10) and Saud Shakeel (8) were routed cheaply.
At the end of 26th over, Pakistan were 109/3 thanks to Rizwan (27) and Salman (27).
Earlier, the Men in Green won the toss and elected to bat first against the Kiwis. Pakistan qualified for the final after defeating South Africa at the same venue, while also achieving their highest chase of 353, giving the home side a confidence boost.
Suffering from a muscular sprain in his lower chest, Haris Rauf has already been advised to rest for the remainder of the series. He was replaced by Mohammad Hasnain in the previous game against the Proteas. While all-rounder Faheem Ashraf has substituted Hasnain in the final. Faheem is making his comeback in the fifty-over format after last playing against India in the 2023 Asia Cup in Colombo.
On the other hand, New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra, who misjudged a catch and was hit in the forehead during a match against Pakistan in Lahore last Saturday, still has concussion protocols to pass before returning to the field, coach Gary Stead said.
Though Ravindra passed his first Head Injury Assessment (HIA) immediately after the blow, Stead revealed the 25-year-old had suffered headaches in the following days and would need to tick off further HIA’s to be passed fit.
Therefore, he has been ousted from the ODI tri-series final against Pakistan.
Pakistan XI: Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk/c), Salman Ali Agha, Tayyab Tahir, Faheem Ashraf, Khushdil Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed
New Zealand XI: Will Young, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (wk), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Nathan Smith, Jacob Duffy, Will O’Rourke
