PAKISTAN LOST THE T20I SERIES AGAINST NEW ZEALAND, DID RIZWAN PLAY SELFISHLY?
Muhammad Rizwan who is a proven match-winner for the Pakistan team and plays as an opener in the T20I team with Babar Azam was under immense criticism from the fans last night when he scored an unbeaten 98 runs off 62 balls and Pakistan lost the match.
Rizwan was criticized heavily because on the other hand, the left-hander Kiwi batsman Mark Chapman scored his maiden T20I century and win the game for his team, he never slowed down in the chase and ended up scoring an unbeaten 104 runs off 57 deliveries as NZ completed the chase with four balls to spare.
Rizwan, even though played very well in the power-play as well as in the middle overs where he scored at a brisk rate but eventually he slowed down when he entered that 80s line and also could not score his 2ND T20i century.
The average score at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in the recently concluded Pakistan Super League 2023 was around 210, many times we have seen teams scoring around 240-50 as well but Pakistan just scored 193 runs on a pitch where even 250 was chased in the PSL 2023 and this is where Rizwan’s innings of 98 runs off 62 balls was not good enough for Pakistan.
When you see wickets tumbling at the other end as Pakistan lost three back-to-back wickets after a good start you give that edge to the batter who carried the innings but things look very different when you divide Rizwan’s innings into two parts, let’s take a look at his innings of 98 runs;
| FIRST HALF | SECOND HALF | TOTAL RUNS |
| 84 (51) | 14 (11) | 98 (62) |
- MUHAMMAD RIZWAN PLAYED BRILLIANTLY IN THE MIDDLE OVERS WHERE HE SCORED 84 RUNS OFF 51 DELIVERIES BUT HIS INNINGS ENDED UP AS A DISASTER FOR PAKISTAN.
- BUT AS YOU CAN SEE IN THE DEATH OVERS HE JUST SCORED 14 RUNS OFF 11 BALLS AND PAKISTAN ENDED UP 10-15 RUNS SHORT OF THE PAR SCORE WHICH COST PAKISTAN THE GAME AS BABAR AZAM SAID IN THE POST-MATCHCH INTERVIEW.
Even though we all respect him for the performances he gave for Pakistan in the past but last night Muhammad Rizwan slowed down in the death overs, and Imad Wasim sacrificed his wicket for Muhammad Rizwan’s century which he could not score as well but this was the reason he was criticized heavily by the fans.
Pakistan lost the T20I series to a relatively young New Zealand cricket team that too on their home ground, the series was leveled 2-2 as the five-match T20I series ended in a draw and the trophy was shared.
Pakistani captain Babar Azam in his press conference even though defended Muhammad Rizwan’s knock saying that he couldn’t connect but fans think otherwise.
- What do you think is the reason Pakistan couldn’t win the T20I series vs New Zealand?
