Cricket WC: Time stands still for zealous Zaman

Pakistan, you beauty!

Just when you thought they were out for the count and possibly out of semifinal contention, they came up with a performance so archetypal of their fluctuating emotions - ergo performances - that the M Chinnaswamy stadium rose in unison to appreciate the scene of a great heist. 

Even the lull of Bengaluru’s nagging powder rain, which forced a couple of stoppages, couldn’t detract those at the venue from marvelling at what Fakhar Zaman’s unbeaten, 81-ball 126 and Pakistan achieved when everyone had written them off after New Zealand’s blitzkrieg. 

Asked to bat, the Kiwis dove headlong into an offensive which can best be described as velvet-gloved for it didn’t seem as aggressive, though, the 401 for 6 in 50 overs might seem that way. 

There were several men behind the highest-ever total at this venue, but one stood head and shoulders above the rest. 

For obvious reasons, the tendency would be to anoint Rachin Ravindra with the tag of most influential in the target-setting exercise. After all, he did end up scoring 108 from 94 balls in his ancestral city as his extended family bathed in the luxury of his elegance. 

But it was Kane Williamson’s 95 which really set the tone, and not only because he got to that mark in sprint fashion. The fact that the skipper was able to do so while still recovering from his thumb injury was exactly the inspiration New Zealand needed on the day. 

All Azam really had to do was rotate the strike and only go after deliveries he was sure he could get a hold of. With the skipper resisting the urge to take risks and Zaman let loose among hapless Kiwis, Pakistan blazed the scoresheet with their run rate. 

As for Pakistan’s bowlers, they knew they had let skipper Azam down as they dragged themselves off the field with their heads slung low while he chewed their ears off. 

Pakistan’s chance of winning at this point: zero. Perhaps why Zaman reckoned it sensible to throw the kitchen sink at the Kiwis. It wasn’t pretty, he wasn’t pretty, but boy, did he get the crowd going. 

Around this time, 4.50 pm to be exact, the rain gods felt it right to drizzle down on the party. 

Pakistan were on 160 for 1 in 21.3 overs and were ahead on the Duckworth and Lewis score by 10 runs. The minutes lost may have eaten into the overs (nine overs) and revised the scoreline (342 from 41 overs) but it didn’t affect Zaman and Azam in the least. 

They came back and kept their foot on New Zealand’s neck to reach a handsome 200 for 1 in 25.3 overs. It was a chase for the ages, or so it seemed until Bengaluru’s skies did the unthinkable when Pakistan needed a very plausible 142 runs from 93 balls. 

But as the minutes ticked on, it became obvious that the game would not happen, and when it was announced that Pakistan had in fact won by 21 runs, the crowd which had stayed back in hope, let out a roar so loud, you’d have assumed India was playing. 

Pakistan, you beauty!