Pakistan captain Babar Azam has stated that self-belief was the key behind his side’s victory in the second ODI against New Zealand in Rawalpindi on Saturday.
Fakhar Zaman smashed a third consecutive century to guide Pakistan to a seven-wicket victory over New Zealand.
The 33-year-old left-handed opener hit an undefeated 180 off 144 balls for his tenth ODI hundred.
It followed his 117 in the first match and 101 against the same opponents in January as Pakistan chased a stiff 337-run target in 48.2 overs.
“As a captain, I am satisfied as everyone is stepping up and responding. The main thing is to read the situation and keep the run rate in check. Fakhar built the innings well and we were trying to maintain seven an over. I think it was Fakhar's best innings and the way he played astonished me,” Azam said after the match.
You can say, we conceded 20 to 30 extra runs but after the first innings we had a discussion and told each other that we have chased down similar totals in the past and we can do it again so it's all about self-belief,” he added.
The win gave Pakistan a 2-0 lead in the five-match series with the last three matches in Karachi on May 3, 5 and 7.
Along with Zaman, skipper Babar Azam hit a brisk 66-ball 65 and Mohammad Rizwan a 41-ball 54 not out as Pakistan achieved their second highest successful ODI chase behind 349 against Australia in Lahore last year.
New Zealand were guided to 336-5 by a second successive hundred for Daryl Mitchell, who made 129, Tom Latham´s 98 and 51 by Chad Bowes.
Zaman is the 12th batsman to score three or more hundreds in consecutive ODIs with Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara the only man to hit four on the trot. Azam has achieved the feat twice.
When on 98, Zaman joined West Indian Shai Hope as the second fastest to 3,000 ODI runs in 67 innings. South African Hashim Amla is the fastest to the milestone in 57.
Once Imam-ul-Haq fell for 24 with the team´s total at 66, Zaman and Azam added 135 for the second wicket and even the fall of Azam and Abdullah Shafique (seven) did not derail Pakistan´s chase.
Azam hit five boundaries and a six in his 25th ODI fifty.
"It was my lucky day to score again against New Zealand as I got chances," said Zaman.
"I try to take my time at the start and then with five players in the circle it becomes easier to score."
Visiting skipper Latham described Zaman as "outstanding".
"We were very happy at the halfway mark," said Latham. "Fakhar played an outstanding knock. They were able to build partnerships and that was a big tick in the batting department."
— Additional input from AFP