World Cup 2023: Pakistan beat New Zealand in Chinnaswami Stadium, Bengaluru, by 21 runs (DLS Method).

Fakhar Zaman achieved the quickest century by a Pakistani player in the World Cup, smashing eight boundaries and eleven sixes to tie the mark set by former cricketer Shahid Afridi in one-day cricket. His unbeaten 126 off 81 balls helped Pakistan secure the victory.

With a century from Fakhar, Pakistan kept their hopes alive of making it to the semi-finals by winning a rain-soaked World Cup match on Saturday by 21 runs using the DLS method.

Pakistan was chasing a challenging 402-run target when top-order batsman Abdullah Shafique was out of the game after nine balls for a pitiful four runs.

However, Fakhar Zaman did not back down and received confidence from captain Babar Azam, who has so far lived up to the situation.

Rain stopped play with the score at 160-1 in 21.3 overs, but Pakistan was on the attack as they attempted to chase the massive 402 needed to win the high-stakes match. Fakhar struck a brilliant century off 63 balls, while Babar Azam edged closer to his fifty.

The new target was 342 in 41 overs. Fakhar continued where he stopped, hitting 126, while Babar scored an undefeated 66. However, the rains returned and Pakistan added 40 runs in four overs to their total.

Due to their spectacular performance, Pakistan was 21 runs over the DLS par score when the match was finally canceled. This victory put them level with fourth-place New Zealand with eight points from a total of eight games.

Zaka Ashraf, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Management Committee Board, stated that top-order batsman Fakhar Zaman will receive a reward money of Rs1,000,000 (Rs1 million) after his spectacular exploits helped Pakistan win the match against New Zealand.

Zaka Ashraf spoke with the 33-year-old batsman over the phone to commend and admire his game-winning performance and to voice his wish for more similar knocks from him.

The fastest 💯 for Pakistan in a men's ODI World Cup match 🌟

Take a bow, Fakhar Zaman 👏 https://t.co/adkwhgOKPg #PAKvNZ #CWC23 pic.twitter.com/lOdZk88mTb

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) November 4, 2023