Babar ton outdoes Neesham brilliance in Edgbaston scoop

Nasser Hussain viewed the Edgbaston surface as a fifth-day wicket of a Test match. The ball was turning square, enough for even Kane Williamson to trouble the batsmen with his part-time off breaks. Mitchell Santner had almost become unplayable. The slow left-armer conceded only 38 runs, but failed to bag a wicket. He could have, off the fifth ball of his third over, when Babar Azam edged an away spinning delivery on 38, only for Tom Latham to drop the catch. What followed was a tricky period of play. A well-set Mohammad Hafeez threw his wicket away to Williamson, Santner beat the batsmen several times, the required rate shot up from less than five an over to more than six, but... Babar passed through the phase undefeated.

And then, in a desperate move to dislodge the fourth-wicket pair, Williamson's roll of the dice backfired. The medium pace of Colin Munro, who was introduced in the 36th over, allowed Babar and Haris Sohail to release the pressure they were put under by the spin duo of Williamson and Santner. Babar hit a boundary, they collected nine runs from the over and brought the required rate back to run-a-ball. With their feet moving better, Babar even took on Williamson in the next over and cracked him for successive boundaries; one over the mid on region and the other pulled behind square. New Zealand, despite some fine lines by Trent Boult in the death overs, could never pull Pakistan back at an even line in the contest. They fell too far behind in trying to halt Pakistan from charging towards the 238-run target. Babar held his nerves through the tough period, and once it got easy, worked around to score his 10th ODI century - first by a Pakistani in this World Cup - and arguably his finest.

Some fine bowling by New Zealand pacers on a wicket that was slow and turning had helped them be in the challenge right from the start. Pakistan openers looked to be on the attack early, however, they soon had to change the strategy once Fakhar Zaman fell to Boult in the third over. Lockie Ferguson got rid of Imam ul Haq soon after the first powerplay, and the contest stood wide open. It continued like that for most part of Pakistan's chase with the spinners causing trouble, the required rate shooting up and the pitch not becoming any easier for batting. The foundation of the six-wicket win was laid by Babar, who first paired up with Hafeez for a half-century stand and later with Sohail in a 126-run partnership.

New Zealand's decision to play only one frontline spinner eventually backfired, as with a low score to defend the pacers were much easier to work around, and with lesser risks. However, on a day when batsmen were challenged, it was the impressive displays by four batters that stood out: Babar and James Neesham possibly playing their finest ODI knocks, while Sohail and Colin de Grandhomme doing a handy job in their respective supporting roles (before both were run out).

Earlier in the day, it was Neesham's fine unbeaten 97 that had helped New Zealand nudge their way to 237, after tottering at 83 for 5 in the 27th over. It was a total far beyond what Pakistan would have liked to restrict them to at the half-way mark. However, Neesham and de Grandhomme's well-paced alliance of 132 runs allowed New Zealand to prosper their way to a competitive total. The duo controlled their aggressive style of play, countered the spin challenge of Shadab Khan and Mohammad Hafeez in the middle overs and stroked their respective fifties.

A large part of New Zealand's struggle was due to their top order collapse. Martin Guptill and Colin Munro couldn't give a good start, Latham failed yet again, and for a change, Williamson and Ross Taylor couldn't bail them out. Shaheen Afridi's economical spell coupled with his triple strike was the prime reason for New Zealand's early stutter as much as it was their inability to play according to the pace of the pitch after they had surprisingly elected to bat on a soft wicket.

Nonetheless, the result has proved to be the perfect script for the tournament. It has kept various possibilities open and made it more dramatic. New Zealand will need at least one win in their two tough games from hereon - vs Australia and England - to secure a place in the semifinals. Pakistan, meanwhile, have strengthened their chances, while also causing worries to England's possibilities. The World Cup is alive and kickin'.

Brief Scores: New Zealand 237/6 in 50 overs (James Neesham 97*, Colin de Grandhomme 64; Shaheen Afridi 3-28, Shadab Khan 1-43) lost to Pakistan 241/4 in 49.1 overs (Babar Azam 101*, Haris Sohail 68; Kane Williamson 1-39, Trent Boult 1-48) by 6 wickets.