At the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, a pre-ODI World Cup match between Pakistan and New Zealand is currently underway. Babar Azam, the captain of Pakistan, decided to bat first after winning the toss. His batters stood by their decision, scoring a staggering 345/5 in the allocated 50 overs. As a response, New Zealand got off to a strong start thanks to a huge century partnership between opener Rachin Ravindra and Kane Williamson.
A strange on-field event occurred during the second innings when Tom Latham hit Agha Salman for a four off a double-bouncing pitch. The Kiwi batsman took full advantage of the opportunity to play for free by playing it towards fine leg for a boundary. Everyone in attendance fell to the ground in splits after the strange delivery.
On the second ball of the 24th over, Salman produced a really short delivery that bounced twice before finding Tom Latham down the leg side.
Watch the incident here:
Tom Latham makes full use of the freebie by Agha Salman #NZvPAK #NZvsPAK #Tomlatham #aghasalman #WorldCup2023 #BabarAzam #MohammadRizwan𓃵 pic.twitter.com/xJH8cHFkk4
— Rishabh Beniwal (@RishabhBeniwal) September 29, 2023
Rachin Ravindra had an incredible innings earlier in the game, scoring 97 off 72 balls while blasting 16 fours and a six. His performance immediately put Pakistan on the back foot against New Zealand. Kane Williamson also appeared to be in good shape as he played a knock of 54 off 50 before being retired out. Williamson had been away from the field for a while due to an injury sustained during IPL 2023.
For Pakistan, Mohammad Rizwan scored a hundred goals.
Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan shone with the bat in the first innings, adding 114 runs for the third wicket off 110 balls after the openers were dismissed early. Mohammad Rizwan finished with a score of 103 off 94 balls, blasting nine fours and two sixes, while Babar went on to score 80 off 84 balls with the help of eight fours and two sixes. A quick-fire 75 off 53 balls from Saud Shakeel helped Pakistan reach 345/5 in their allotted 50 overs.