Pakistan recorded a much-needed win against New Zealand in their latest World Cup 2023 game on Saturday, November 4 but their victory was cut short with a fine. ICC slapped Babar Azam-led side with sanction for maintaining a slow over run rate in a rait-hit game at Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
New Zealand pulled off their highest ODI World Cup total of 401 runs while batting first. Rising Rachin Ravindra registered his third century of the tournament while the returning skipper Kane Williamson scored 95 runs to disrupt Pakistan's bowling attack.
Pakistan failed two overs short of the target of the slotted over rate and were found guilty under Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel. On-field umpires Paul Wilson and Richard Kettleborough, third umpire Richard Illingworth and fourth umpire Joel Wilson brought the charges after the game and Babar accepted the proposed sanctions of 10 percent of the match fee.
Meanwhile, a sensational 63-ball hundred from the veteran Fakhar Zaman and an unbeaten fifty from Babar helped Pakistan score 200 runs for one in just 25.3 overs and it was enough to walk away with two points with the help of DLS. A win boosted Pakistan's hopes for the semifinal qualification. After the game, Babar highlighted his unbeaten and fierce 194-run stand with Fakhar which proved the difference on Saturday.
"When we started batting, we believed (in ourselves)," Babar Azam said during a post-match presentation. "Inside dressing room, we passed the message that we need one good partnership. Back of the mind, we knew rain was coming, but didn't expect it to be too much. To be honest, we just planned to build a partnership. I wanted to give strike to Fakhar; we knew we had short boundaries and we tried to utilise it. We were trying to give 100 % but in some matches we were not up to the mark. If we win our next match, let's see...we will try to play positively and we are going match by match."
