“They played exceptionally well,” Williamson said on the host’s broadcast after the game, “and they gave themselves every opportunity and, at the end of the day, they crossed the line. I guess having the game shortened brings a little bit for both teams.” closer together when you’re chasing 400, but they played exceptionally well. They were certainly right in their pursuit.

“It would have been good for the full 50 [overs], but that being said, there are absolutely things we want to touch on. It was really difficult to close that short side. [boundary]Zaman also used it beautifully in that association with Babar. “So all the credit, they deserve today’s result and for us, it’s moving forward quickly and facing our next challenge.”

The challenge, for both teams, is to win the last game of the league phase. Both have four wins in eight games and hope to reach ten points and have a chance to reach the semifinals.

Babar was aware of the short boundary, the pitch that favored the batsmen and the surrounding climate. As a result, he was not fazed by the early loss of Abdullah Shafique, who was 6 for 1 after two overs. His message to Fakhar was to bowl himself for 15 overs and set the scene alight after that, which he did.

“I just asked Fakhar: ‘If you play 15 overs, we are ahead’,” Babar said. “Deep down, we knew it was going to rain, but unfortunately, it rained too much, [we were] I didn’t expect so much rain. We just planned to build a partnership, I just tried [hand over the] I hit Fakhar because he [seemed like he] I was playing on a different field. “We know we have a short limit and we use it.”

Fakhar splashed the short boundary in his 126 not out, which included eight fours and 11 sixes. The great successes, coupled with the challenges bowling offered to a left-right duo, left too much to do for Williamson and New Zealand.

“If you get one or two wickets, you can take out the short side, in terms of left-right combination, and things can change quickly,” Williamson said. “But today we couldn’t do that and Pakistan made the most of it and deserved the victory.”