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Tom Latham's New Zealand could have clinched their first victory in the five-match ODI series against Pakistan but a few dropped catches hurt them on a flat surface.
New Zealand set a competitive total of 337 for Pakistan to chase after a valiant knock of 129 (119) from the bat of Daryl Mitchell, however, Fakhar Zaman stepped up for Pakistan to clinch the victory for the hosts. "Daryl played a fantastic inning. Halfway mark we were pretty happy. Full credit to Fakhar, played an outstanding knock. That's the nature of cricket, happens (talking about the dropped catches). They were able to build partnership after partnership. Big tick in the batting department. Have done that well in the last couple of games. Wickets here tend to be flat. We have to create more chances in the middle phases," Tom Latham said after the match. In a high-scoring game, several records were broken during the game, including Fakhar becoming the fourth Pakistani batter to score three straight hundreds in ODIs and becoming the nation's fastest player to reach 3000 ODI runs. Pakistan's total of 337/3 was also the fourth-highest ODI score by Pakistan's men's team in an ODI and their second-best run chase. Mitchell's knock featured eight boundaries and three sixes, and his score, which surpassed Ricky Ponting's 124* in 1998 as the best by any No.3 batsman from a visiting nation, was the most by a New Zealander in an ODI in Pakistan. Pakistan will try to seal the series in the third match of the ODI series on 3rd May at the National Stadium Karachi. (ANI)
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