World Cup Live Report - New Zealand vs Pakistan, Bengaluru

22m ago

Devon Conway has gloved a short ball to Mohammad Rizwan.

He was done in by a skiddy short ball. Conway looked to fetch the pull from outside off, but it got a bit too big on him. Rizwan didn't even appeal, I suppose everyone knew. A 68-run opening stand has been broken.

Since that magical 152*, Conway has managed scores of 32, 45, 20, 0, 28, 2 and 35.

30m ago

Overs 6-8 would've been particularly deflating from a Pakistan point of view.

More than the boundaries, the manner in which they got them will be slightly concerning for Babar. This included three in an over off Shaheen Afridi. The pick of the lot being a wristy Rachin Ravindra flick off a length ball that bisected midwicket and mid-on.

45m ago

Five overs and a spate of boundaries later, Babar throws the ball to Iftikhar Ahmed with his gentle offspin.

Pakistan haven't really had the kind of World Cup to start talking about unsung heroes, but unsung Iftikhar most certainly is. Iftikhar has been used more like a spare tire, plugging the gaps in a pinch but never actually venerated like those other shinier toys.

It doesn't help that Pakistan have used him as a stop-gap so often Iftikhar has almost become their personification of papering over cracks. Legspinners unable to stem the tide in the middle overs? Stick Iftikhar in for a few. Thinking about taking pace off with the new ball? What's Ifti chacha for, after all?

Need to finish off a game quickly to help with the run rate? Need some power at the death with a longish tail? Let's see how Uncle Ifti goes, shall we? Need the odd death over? He can do that, too.

59m ago

1h ago

You probably know this. Everyone does.

Rachin Ravindra is playing a game in Bengaluru. Why is it special? Because his parents hail from the city and a lot of their immediate and extended family live here. Probably many of them are at the game as well.

Beyond all that, Rachin must feel like this is a home game for several reasons. Over the past five years, he's played plenty of club cricket in the city. Every year, he makes two cricket trips - schedules permitting - with the Hutt Hawks, a Wellington-based club his dad Ravi Krishamurthy runs.

He's played across most big venues in the city, on different surfaces and against varied opposition, including several players from Karnataka's domestic setup. So in that sense, there's a lot of familiarity with the grounds and pitches.

1h ago

1h ago

New Zealand: Conway, Ravindra, Williamson, Mitchell, Latham, Phillips, Chapman, Santner, Sodhi, Boult, Southee

Pakistan: Fakhar, Shafique, Babar, Rizwan, Shakeel, Iftikhar, Salman, Hasan, Shaheen, Rauf, Wasim

1h ago

He came into the World Cup not fully fit. But the New Zealand team management gave him every opportunity to recover from his rehab following an ACL injury he picked up during the IPL earlier this year.

After sitting out of New Zealand's first two games, he returned to play a combative knock on a two-paced Chennai deck against Bangladesh. But an undisplaced fracture after being hit on the thumb by a throw - while he was completing a run - put him on the sidelines for two more weeks.

Here he is now in Bengaluru, back amid a slew of injury concerns in the New Zealand camp, in what is a very, very important game, even if it ain't quite a must-win. Deep down, though, both teams know they simply want a win here to stay alive.

1h ago

2h ago

1993 The last time Bengaluru hosted a day game (ODI, of course). It was quite an unmemorable fixture between South Africa and Zimbabwe at the Hero Cup.

Only nine out of the 37 overs were possible after lengthy delays because of rain. The game was eventually abandoned. Incidentally, that game happened in early November like today's game between Pakistan and New Zealand.

Like it was back then, there's some rain forecast today. But the good news is Bengaluru has dawned bright, even though it's a tad more overcast than it has been over the past month or so. There's a lot of grey, but nothing to suggest rain will hamper play just yet. There is some forecast for later in the afternoon, though. Let's hope it stays away.