On Saturday, Fakhar Zaman scored his third successive ODI century, helping Pakistan achieve a remarkable and record-breaking seven-wicket victory over New Zealand in Rawalpindi.
The Pakistan opener scored an unbeaten 180 not out, hitting 17 boundaries and six sixes, to help his team successfully chase down New Zealand’s total of 336-5 with 10 deliveries remaining.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam said that despite it being their second highest successful chase in ODIs, they had always been confident in their ability to achieve it.
The team had a conversation during the first innings and encouraged each other to chase down the target, as they had done in the past. Fakhar’s performance was particularly impressive, with Latham praising him for his outstanding play.
The remaining three matches in the series will take place in Karachi on Wednesday, Friday, and next Sunday.
Fakhar scored his third consecutive century in One Day Internationals (ODIs), following his 117 in the first match of the series. He had also scored a century against New Zealand in the last game of their previous series earlier this year.
Fakhar expressed his good fortune on scoring against New Zealand again and mentioned how he was dropped by Jimmy Neesham in two consecutive overs after hitting 10 boundaries to reach his half-century off 44 balls.
The speaker feels that he has a lot of freedom to play his own way when playing with Mohammad Rizwan, who has helped make things easier for him. He was instructed to remain at the crease until the end of the game.
Latham is confident that his team can make a comeback in the series. He believes that their batting has improved and they just need to work on putting more pressure with the ball.