Pakistan’s batsman Babar Azam bows down as teammate Haris Sohail watches on after scoring a century. (AP)Pakistan continued its revival in the World Cup by halting New Zealand’s unbeaten run with a six-wicket victory on Wednesday. Babar Azam produced a sublime unbeaten century under pressure while Haris Sohail played his part with a fine half-century as Pakistan chased down a target of 238 with five balls to spare. Here are the best reactions-
Congratulations to our cricket team for a great comeback. Congratulations especially go to Babar, Haris and Shaheen for their brilliant performances.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) 26 June 2019
#SarfarazAhmed hits the winning runs as @TheRealPCB keep their #CWC19 campaign alive with a stirring victory over New Zealand at Edgbaston! #WeHaveWeWill pic.twitter.com/AxxsJmGDF1
— ICC (@ICC) 26 June 2019
Hmmmm, England will have to beat NZ in Durham, beat them again in semi & then beat India in final.
Not impossible!
🏆
— Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) 26 June 2019
Brilliant batting by Babar Azam and Haris Sohail, special win for Pakistan. Babars batting through the innings has made all the difference. The talent of Haris Sohail, his shot making is pure class. Pakistan are back in this World cup! #WeHaveWeWill #BoomBoomPakistan 🇵🇰💪🏼🏆 pic.twitter.com/r6Xz3nwdQM
— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) 26 June 2019
Babar, you elegant, timing-obsessed, insanely watchable, cover-driving, tournament-defining freak. #CWC19
— Ben Jones (@benjonescricket) 26 June 2019
Haris Sohail’s calmness under pressure….scored at a brisk rate without taking obvious risks. Very very convincing. Two quality innings on the bounce. #PakvWI #CWC19
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) 26 June 2019
First loss for @BLACKCAPS and the likes of @babarazam258 and Haris Sohail deserve full credit, the @TheRealPCB‘s middle order looking totally different now. #CWC19 #NZvPAK
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) 26 June 2019
Match winning inning from Babar Azam. Brilliant display of talent by Haris Sohail. What a class act he is turning out to be.
Shaheen Afridi bowled with pace & aggression.
Pakistan Zindabad. One step closer to the dream. #PAKvNZ #CWC19— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) 26 June 2019
Fantastic win for @TheRealPCB over @BLACKCAPS and the dream lives on! @babarazam258 in control @iShaheenAfridi the destroyer! #PakistanZindabad #CricketWorldCup19
— Alan Wilkins (@alanwilkins22) 26 June 2019
What an incredibly great leveler sport can be 🙃😏
— Sania Mirza (@MirzaSania) 26 June 2019
When the Pakistan cricket team wins like this on a big stage, it’s not just beating the opposition, it’s also beating all the odds stacked against them. 👏👏👏
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) 26 June 2019
Meanwhile, the man of the match Babar Azam spoke at the post-match presentation and said, “I think this is the best, because it was a must-win game. Track was a bit slow and also spinning a bit. Idea was always to bat till the end and it worked. When we started, the idea was to play out the fast bowlers, especially Ferguson. But when Santner came and got the ball to rip, we understood that it’s important to keep him off. Idea was to just be careful against him. Hafeez Bhai told me the same, to gauge the pitch and play sensibly. Whenever we play in England, we get good support and I am glad it’s continuing.”
