RAWALPINDI: Imperious Fakhar Zaman heaped praises on Imam-ul-Haq and credited his opener partner for instilling confidence in him after Pakistan thrashed New Zealand in the first PAK vs NZ ODI, here on Thursday.
Fakhar smashed a magnificent century to help Pakistan seal a convincing five-wicket win against New Zealand in the opening ODI of the five-game series here at Pindi Cricket Stadium.
Set to chase 289, the dependable opening pair of Imam and Fakhar laid a solid foundation for the Green Shirts as they raised 124 runs with both scoring half-centuries.
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Imam, however, failed to convert his 15th ODI fifty into a century as he fell victim to Ish Sodhi in the 22nd over. He scored 60 off 65 deliveries, hitting five boundaries and a six.
However, Fakhar continued to dominate Kiwi bowlers and went on to score his ninth ODI hundred. He played a match-winning knock of 114-ball 117 with the help of 13 fours and a maximum.
“I’ve never seen a player as confident as Imam,” said Fakhar in a post-match interview shared by PCB on Twitter.
“I feel very comfortable batting with Imam. He is well-groomed as a batsman and I get the confidence from him” he added.
Imam, on the other hand, also spoke highly of his teammate, stating, “The way Fakhar is taking the responsibility, he will play an important role for us in the World Cup.”
“We both were trying to keep each other awake, in case one of us goes into his shell. And Fakhar helped a lot with this.”
“It matters a lot how your partner gives you the confidence,” he added.
It must be noted here that the Fakhar-Imam duo is one of Pakistan’s most successful opening pairs in history, having seven hundred-run stands including an all-time opening partnership record of 304 runs
With a 1-0 lead in the series, Pakistan will now take on the visitors in the second fixture at the same venue on April 29 before the action shifts to National Bank Cricket Arena in Karachi, which will host the remaining three ODIs on May 3, 5 and 7.
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