New Zealand beat India at the top of the Super League standings by beating Pakistan

New Zealand’s win takes them to the top of the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League with 140 points, leapfrogging both Pakistan (130) and India (139) thanks to their victory.

The Kiwis also managed to come back from the six wicket defeat of the first ODI to take the series to 1–1. The series decider will now be played on Friday at the National Stadium in Karachi.

Aside from bragging about winning the series, the decider also has CWCSL implications. Pakistan could overtake India to become second in the Super League table with a win, while New Zealand could extend its lead at the top, according to ICC.

As a result of the loss, Pakistan (108 rating) dropped one spot in the ICC Men’s ODI Team Rankings, dropping to fifth place behind India (109) by a point between Asian neighbours. New Zealand, on the other hand, remains at the top of the table with a rating of 115.

New Zealand opted to bat first and posted a solid total of 261. They owed the second wicket pair of Devon Conway and Kane Williamson who scored a stand of 181 runs. Conway took charge of the Pakistan bowling attack on his way to his second ODI ton (101), while Williamson (85) was happy to play second fiddle.

The visitors then collapsed, courtesy of Mohammad Nawaz’s sublime spell of 4/34. Mitchell Santner hung on with a crucial hit of 37 to give Pakistan a target of 262.

In response, Babar Azam top-scored for Pakistan with 79, but he was far from his sublime best during his stay with 114 balls in the crease. New Zealand’s decision to play with three spinners paid off as they stayed on the line in scoring.

With wickets consistently falling at regular intervals, the hosts could not keep up with the scoring pace and eventually perished under the strain.

Short Scores: New Zealand 261 in 49.5 overs (Devon Conway 101, Kane Williamson 85; Mohammad Nawaz 4-38, Naseem Shah 3-58) defeated Pakistan 182 in 43 overs (Babar Azam 79, Mohammad Rizwan 28; Tim Southee 2-33, Ish Sodhi 2-38) by 79 runs.

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