ICC World Cup 2019: Match 33, NZ v PAK – Pakistan Player Ratings

Like he usually does, Imam-ul-Haq yet again took some time in the middle. He hit three good looking boundaries but got out in a poor way. The left-hander was done by the additional pace from Lockie Ferguson and defended a short ball awkwardly. Martin Guptill took to a brilliant catch to send him back into the pavilion.

Fakhar Zaman – 1/10

Fakhar Zaman seemed to be up and running after he hit a couple of boundaries early on. However, just like his opening partner, he got out in a poor manner. Fakhar closed down the face of the bat a bit too early on a ball bowled at the leg stump. While he would have usually sent that away to a boundary, he ended up finding a leading edge which went straight to the fielder.

Babar Azam – 9.5/10

Babar Azam was excellent on the night for Pakistan. He didn’t throw away the start that he got and ensured that he took his team over the line. After he got a life when he was batting on 38, Azam ensured that he made the most of it. The 24-year-old brought up his maiden World Cup hundred and also became the youngest Pakistan player to do so. He remained focussed throughout the innings and remained unbeaten on 101 runs.

Mohammad Hafeez – 6.5/10

Mohammad Hafeez put in all the hard work after losing the openers early. He built up a good partnership with Azam and looked good. However, he threw it away after getting to 32 runs. Off the bowling of Kane Williamson, he played a really nothing shot and hit it straight to the man in the deep who didn’t have to move an inch. He hit five boundaries in his knock. With the ball, Hafeez bowled 7 overs and was highly economical giving away just 22 runs.

Haris Sohail – 9/10

Haris Sohail continued from where he left off in the last game. At a stage of the game where the Kiwis were sniffing a slight chance, he walked out to the middle and stamped his authority. Sohail complemented Babar extremely well and soaked in the pressure. He got to a blistering half-century that came at a very good pace. But a slight misunderstanding brought curtains to his innings when he was on 68. Martin Guptill pulled off a brilliant run out when the opposition was just 2 runs shy of a win.

Sarfaraz Ahmed – 3/10

Sarfaraz Ahmed had a great day on the field leading the side and behind the stumps as well. He pouched a wonderful catch to dismiss Ross Taylor, took two more catches later on and was even involved in the run out of Colin de Grandhomme. He got to bat towards the end of the innings where he didn’t have too much of work to do and remained unbeaten on 5 runs.

Imad Wasim – 1/10

Imad Wasim didn’t have a huge contribution to make in this win. He only bowled three overs where he conceded 17 runs at an economy rate of 5.70. He didn’t get to bat as well with the top six doing the job for Pakistan.

Shadab Khan – 4/10

Shadab Khan bowled an absolute peach of a delivery to get rid of the dangerous Kane Williamson. Had Williamson been out there in the middle a little longer, Pakistan might have had to chase a bigger target. Getting him out after he was set was quite a task and Shadab did well. In his 10 overs, he conceded 43 runs.

Wahab Riaz – 2/10

It wasn’t the best day on the field for Wahab Riaz. He was brought into the attack quite late and the idea was to get some reverse swing. However, he couldn’t break the partnership of Neesham and de Grandhomme early in the game. He conceded runs at a rate of 5.50 and didn’t get any wickets.

Mohammad Amir – 3.5/10

Mohammad Amir provided Pakistan with an early breakthrough by dismissing the dangerous Martin Guptill for only 5 runs. However, he couldn’t make much of an impact after that. He went for 67 runs in his 10 overs and was involved in the run out of Colin de Grandhomme.

Shaheen Afridi – 9/10

Shaheen Afridi seemed to be unplayable with the new ball. He kept the New Zealand batsmen under the pump and got Pakistan off to a terrific start. The left-arm pacer first got the better of Colin Munro. Then, he got the big fish in Ross Taylor and even sent Tom Latham back into the hut finishing with figures of 10-3-28-3.