World Cup Live Report - New Zealand vs Pakistan, Bengaluru

Thanks a lot for joining us. Hope you enjoyed that game. We had a lot of fun bringing it to you.

Here's a snippet from Danyal Rasool's report that you can dig into:

"Against all odds, Pakistan somehow remain alive in this World Cup. In a game where they turned in one of their most ordinary bowling displays in World Cup history, a century from Rachin Ravindra and 95 from the returning Kane Williamson saw New Zealand amass 401 - their highest World Cup total - to leave Pakistan on the ropes. But an astonishing counterattack from Fakhar Zaman saw him smash an unbeaten 126 in 81 balls to keep Pakistan up with the DLS asking rate with the threat of rain looming for much of the second innings. And when the rain did arrive, Pakistan were comfortably ahead of the rate they needed to be, pulling off a win that levels them on points with New Zealand and puts a semi-final berth within realistic grasp."

That's because Australia can get to 12, so can Afghanistan. Whereas New Zealand can at max reach 10 points after now having lost four in a row.

Pakistan's best-case scenario now is to simply win against England and hope Sri Lanka can do them a massive favour by beating New Zealand on November 9 in Bengaluru. But beyond that, there's still a mathematical possibility for Afghanistan to go to 12 points should they win both their remaining games. Even if they win one of their two - however tough it may seem - they will go to 10 points. Then it will come down to a net run rate shoot out between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Drizzling, covers coming on. Pakistan well ahead of DLS, by 21 runs

Colleague Sreshth Shah's musings: "There might be a situation where we we are ready to play with 10 mins to go (say 7.30PM IST) --- where Pakistan's target for 29 overs is, say, 198, and therefore Pakistan have already achieved the target." He wonders if they'll have to come out and defend one ball for the game to reach its conclusion because he's seen it happen at the BBL.

Yes, they will. Just to prove conditions are about right for a resumption.

On the big screen, there's a message that says next update at 7.15pm. I think we're only going to hear what we already know. This is looking increasingly unlikely to resume. Pakistan live to fight another day.

Sodhi's figures currently read 4-0-44-0. It's been a tough initiation into the 2023 World Cup for him. Not easy bowling on this flat deck in any case. Add to it the challenges of bowling to two quality batters going for broke along with a slightly greasy ball to boot. Tough.

Babar began the 25th with a six down the ground and then Fakhar mowed two into the leg side fence, one bigger than the other. Deep into the top tier.

Ish Sodhi's first ball is a dragdown that's pulled to the fine leg boundary.

The follow-up is nicely tossed up and Babar plays an exquisite cover drive.

Pakistan back on the move.

Chants of a'Babar Babar' rings around the Chinnaswamy as he raises his half-century off 52 balls.

Play will resume at 6.20pm local time. Pakistan need 182 more in 19.3 overs. One bowler can bowl maximum of nine overs. The rest can bowl maximum of eight overs. Powerplay-3 will begin from the 34th over.

The ground officials believe it's 7pm. The event officials believe it should be 7.40pm since the first innings ended late. Whatever it is, this much is certain. We are not going to have a full chase. So the overs will drastically come down.

The rain has stopped for now and the ground staff have been out for 15 minutes, but without any activity. The super soppers are out, but they're stationary. The officials are in deep discussion.

The drainage at Chinnaswamy is top class, so that isn’t a major issue at the moment. What could be an issue yet are the heavy clouds hanging over.

It's been an exhibition of some of the cleanest 'clear your front leg' and swing to the hills effort.

Fakhar Zaman is an excellent timer of the ball, but that isn't his calling card. He relies on brute force. At times, his footwork may seem off, but his hand-eye coordination can make up for that, especially on true surfaces where batters simply plant forward and bash the ball through the line.

Fakhar hadn't been in form coming into the tournament. Two games in, he was injured and subsequently left out of the side. In came Abdullah Shafique and made the most of his opportunities. Fakhar had to wait his turn, and when he finally returned in the previous game, while he wasn't at his sparkling best, you could see his shades of dominance in the 81 he made against Bangladesh.

Cricket is a confidence game and one knock is sometimes all it takes to turn things around. Here, he took his time early on, especially after Shafique's dismissal. But has suddenly stepped up and purred along after the 10-over mark.

The onslaught along with Babar has put Pakistan ahead of DLS in the 20th over. There's rain around, and this charge has the potential to sensationally turn things around.

He charged from 93 to 99 with a mow for six off Santner, and quickly dabs one into the off side to complete his century. The Chinnaswamy is up on their feet to applaud an absolutely wild, wild knock. Pakistan well and truly in this.

In between the big hits, Babar has played support cast and in doing so, has somewhat masked his own struggles. He went 31 deliveries without a boundary, even as Fakhar kept charging at New Zealand, but ensured the strike kept turning over and dot balls didn't keep stagnating. You can't undermine his efforts yet. There's been the willingness to fight when he could've so easily looked to hit his way out. That's experience speaking.

Lands a wobble-seam, gets the ball to dart away a hint. Babar Azam is drawn forward but can only get a genuine edge that flies wide of the keeper. Another day, with a slip in place, Babar would've been walking back. Instead, he not only survives but plays one of the most gorgeous shots in cricket - a backfoot punch through cover point - for four. In the next over, the first of the spinners, he launches Santner for six over deep midwicket. Pakistan beginning to get some sort of a move on. 56/1 in eight overs.

After four quiet overs and a wicket....

Fakhar began the Trent Boult over with two trademark leg-side hacks, Babar finishes it with an impeccable pull to the square leg boundary.

When you're running on adrenaline and instinct, injuries don't play on your mind.

Abdullah Shafique lofts Tim Southee, but the timing seems off. Williamson takes off from mid-off, runs a couple of steps to his right and then turns around to run back. Actually sprint. And as the ball descends, he puts in a full-length dive to pull off a brilliant catch.

Did you say he had a broken finger?

Pakistan lose one early in the second over. Williamson walks off the field and the TV cameras have spotted his left thumb still in a splint.

The drizzle is gone. Covers off. Umpires walking back in. We're set for a resumption. Full 50 overs, of course. We only lost eight minutes. Pakistan need 402.

A thin drizzle that forced the ground staff to only cover the surface as a precaution has turned into a heavier shower. The bigger covers are coming on. As of now, the entire square has been covered. But the ground continues to be bathed in bright sunshine and New Zealand team is even taking their warm-up catches. While there's no imminent threat of a lengthy interruption, it does look like we may not begin at 3.10pm, the scheduled time of resumption. We can make up an hour's play without losing overs.

The 46 fours they conceded today in Bengaluru is the most they have in an innings in their ODI history. Twice they conceded 43. One of those was in 2006, a game famously remembered for former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf's quip on MS Dhoni's haircut.

Here's the list of games where they've conceded most boundaries.

Shaheen Afridi's 10-0-90-0 is the most expensive spell by a Pakistani in World Cup history. For a while, Shaheen and Haris were both in contention for this rather unforgettable record. Haris finished with 10-0-85-1.

The 18 overs between Wasim and Iftikhar: 4/115 The 32 overs of Shaheen-Hasan-Haris-Salman: 2/286. And that's where Pakistan have been found wanting.

What can he not do?

Bowls tidy offspin, keeps wickets. Is an absolute live wire on the field. And a superb finisher with the bat.

He's got the stance of a baseball slugger. It's more Lance Klusener than Kane Williamson. And boy, he can give it a whack or what. One of the aspects about his batting is he doesn't premeditate. He stays low, has good hands, picks length well and marries that with incredible strength that he's got.

We saw it when he shovelled Wasim, swatted Shaheen, flogged Haris. It's the kind of hitting that can deflate any bowler. It's an innings that has helped tide over a bit of a tull: 25 balls, 41 runs and New Zealand are just short of 400 here.

Slowdown, really? New Zealand are looking at 400 at the very least here.

Ten days ago against Australia in Bengaluru, Pakistan managed to pull things back and restrict Australia from a rampaging 259 for 0 in the 34th to 367 for 9.

Here again, the puff-pastry kind of bowling (Osman Samiuddin's fuming at the hit-me stuff) threatened to inflict a lot of self-damage, and potentially a target closer to 400. But the wicket of Rachin Ravindra hot on the heels of the Williamson dismissal has elicited prospects of a similar slowdown.

Got to say the form he was in, Rachin backed himself to clear the ropes, but in the end is caught at the deep square leg fence as the half whip/pull finds Saud Shakeel.

In terms of aesthetics, power, timing - everything was mostly of the top drawer. Three hundreds in a maiden World Cup. What a tournament he's having.

He won't get to three figures tonight, but if you put behind cricket's obsession with centuries, you'd know this knock was absolute gold.

He was slightly eager to get going almost immediately upon coming in, but once set, treated a strong crowd to some delightful shots. The inside-out hits over cover, sweeps, the typical dab down to third man.

There was purpose, urgency and naked aggression of the kind you rarely see. Perhaps Williamson and New Zealand believe they need way above par, perhaps a score nudging 370-380.

In trying to keep up with the flurry of runs since the 25th, Williamson picks out long-off to give Iftikhar, yes that man again, a wicket against the run of play. New Zealand have broken a 180-run partnership.

Rachin Ravindra lost his bat as he mistimed a pull to deep square. Two fielders converged, albeit at their own pace, and Rachin still had enough time to complete the run despite collecting his bat, which was flung away a good 10 yards to his left and complete the second comfortably.

There's also a run out chance they've missed. Or maybe a half-chance, to dismiss Williamson. He reverse swept one straight to short third and took off for a risky run. A better throw and a better gather, from much closer to the stumps from Iftikhar, may have had him an inch or two short.

Because Iftikhar was standing a bit further away from the stumps, the time taken between gathering the ball and breaking the stumps was enough for Williamson to stretch back in. He was on 88 then. How many more will he make?

Did I just tell you Rachin hasn't looked all that comfortable against the short ball?

Since then, he has just arched back and ramped Haris Rauf over the vacant slips to the third man boundary. And gloriously pulled Rauf in front of square for a six that's flown into the second tier.

Incredible batting.

Halfway mark. Runs bleeding. Century stand. No pressure on the batting team.

Who does Babar turn to?

Shaheen from one end. Haris from the other.

Shaheen's mandate: Full, fast, straight into the stumps. To try and bring a hint of reverse in.

Rauf's mandate: Hard lengths, hit top-of-off like he'd been training for at the nets. Hustle the batters for pace.

Rachin hasn't entirely been comfortable with the pull shot today, and Haris' extra pace has the potential to cause him some more discomfort. But there's also another matter of having to deal with Williamson, who looks in sublime form.

He welcomes him back for a second spell with a sensational backfoot punch through extra cover.

Williamson has just played a sumptuous lofted drive over cover for four. And then, off the next ball, sends the ball into the wide long-on fence with a ferocious sweep/swat. With the partnership looking ominous and spinners being taken out of the game, Babar turns to Shaheen Afridi for a second crack to begin the 26th over.

Williamson has looked mighty impressive. There's been no hesitation even when the pace has been taken off. Made room, stepped out and lofted Agha Salam inside-out for six over long-off.

We're nearing the halfway mark of the innings, New Zealand have once again picked up pace and are nearly going at 6.5 an over.

Musings from the excellent Danyal Rasool, our Pakistan correspondent: Pakistan's combination felt high risk high reward. Containing spinners are useful if someone's picking up wickets, but less effective in a situation such as this. The risk aspect of that equation is playing out now.

Brought on for the first time in the 18th, Wasim nearly has Rachin nicking twice off two deliveries with ones that deck away. It's an excellent comeback after conceding five wides one ball in. Rachin is approaching a half-century, but fluency seems to have eluded him just a touch since Conway's dismissal. Perhaps it's the sticky nature of the surface that's also playing a part. But he 's done well to hang in there and keep the scorecard ticking.

Has he regained full fitness?

Is he playing because New Zealand have no options in the wake of injuries?

How is his finger?

Will it cause him discomfort when he bats?

Plenty of questions around Williamson.

So far, he has looked untroubled and is milking runs in proper Williamson style. That dab down to third man - a signature of his - has made an early appearance too.

Barring an early nick between keeper and slip off Haris Rauf, he's looked solid.

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.

Conway hasn't yet hit the high notes like he did on the opening night of the tournament when he and Rachin sensationally took down England in Ahmedabad.

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

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.

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.

The first 17 balls were largely quiet. Shaheen Afridi was attacking the stumps and looking to move the ball away from the left-handers from different release points. The next seven deliveries have brought three boundaries as New Zealand are up and away.

Devon Conway hit the first, skipping down to negate the late movement and loft Shaheen over mid-off. The next one - a classic punch on the up through the covers - elicited chants of 'Raaaccchhhhiin Raaaacccchin' from the Chinnaswamy crowd, even before the stadium DJ stepped in.

It's a familiar chant in India, of course, one that goes you go into proper #throwback mode. Especially for those who grew up in the 1990s.

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.

Are they, as they appeared to be in the early weeks of this tournament, a title contender? Are they, as they have seemed since then, a merely above-average team who can't match the quantity of outright match-winners who pepper the top three teams' line-ups? Karthik Krishnaswamy decodes.

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

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.

The same old chaos, rumblings of discontent, pressures of a must-win. The more things change, the more they remain the same.

But their training session yesterday, stripped off everything around the side - the speculation, chatter around WhatsApp calls going unanswered and messages leaked from within and outside - was simply one of preparing in the best way that they could while blocking the external noise, even if only for that moment.

It's easier said than done to train yourself that way, because when you're outings are largely limited to just the stadiums and hotels owing to security considerations, players can at times look for solace and comfort in the very things they're told to avoid or claim to not pay heed to - the digital clutter.