Kane Williamson: “Zaman played beautifully and the ground wasn’t big enough for him”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
New Zealand limited overs captain Kane Williamson praised Pakistan opening batsman Fakhar Zaman for the electrifying century he hit against them in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup.
Zaman smashed 126 not out off 81 balls, which included eight boundaries and 11 sixes, to lead the men in green to a 21-run win via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method.
The 33-year-old was riding a wave of newfound momentum coming into this match as he hammered 81 in his previous game against Bangladesh.
“Zaman played beautifully and the ground wasn’t big enough for him,” Williamson was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan began the World Cup with back-to-back wins over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before stumbling against India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Even though they fought back to take down Bangladesh and New Zealand, they were unable to advance to the semi-finals.
The men in green concluded their campaign on a low as England battered them by 93 runs.
Pakistan will now be involved in a three-match Test series against Australia, but Zaman was not included in the 18-man squad.
The first Test between Pakistan and Australia will start on December 14 in Perth.
Pakistan Squad for Australia Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi