3 times rain aided Pakistan in a World Cup match ft. 2023
Cricket is one of those sports where the weather conditions and other natural phenomena have a significant impact on the match.
Rain, in particular, influences a cricket contest in more ways than one, with the Duckworth-Lewis Method (DLS) coming in to calculate revised targets and par scores as overs get reduced because of rain delays. A rain forecast on a matchday leads to teams planning ahead for them and also influences their decision after winning the toss.
It has also affected many games on world cricket's biggest stages, such as the World Cup (WC), even as the schedulers try their best to allot fixtures to venues with the aim of avoiding rain as much as possible.
While most fans and players wouldn't like rain intervening, there have been occasions where the heavens have opened up to save or help a team win a match, and such instances exist in favor of most of the top teams in world cricket.
Let's now look at three times rain aided Pakistan in a World Cup match.
#3 vs Zimbabwe, 2007 World Cup
Truth be told, this match was a dead rubber that Pakistan should have comfortably wrapped up even without rain intervening and aiding them, but they wouldn't have minded the assistance.
After losing their first two group-stage matches, Pakistan were knocked out of the World Cup and headed into their game against Zimbabwe playing for pride. The Zimbabwe bowlers kept most Pakistan batters under wraps, but they couldn't contain opener Imran Nazir, who scored a brilliant 160, only his second hundred in ODI cricket.
Nazir's knock helped Pakistan score 349, with Zimbabwe stuttering at 25/3 in their reply when rain interrupted the contest. However, once it eased out, the conditions became even more bowler-friendly, with the Zimbabwe batters' attacking intent not paying off as they were bundled out for 99, handing Pakistan a huge win.
#2 vs South Africa, World Cup 2015
Pakistan kept their World Cup 2015 campaign alive with a clutch win against the Proteas in a rain-curtailed clash at Auckland. After losing their opening two matches, Pakistan needed to win their remaining four matches to guarantee their spot in the quarter-finals, and after winning two on the trot, they ran into South Africa.
Rain converted the contest into a 47-over one, and against a strong Proteas bowling lineup, Pakistan were restricted to 226, with Misbah Ul Haq's half-century holding the innings together.
While it seemed like South Africa had the advantage, the overcast conditions and the moisture on the wicket helped a fiery Pakistan pace attack hit back strongly. It was a seam-bowling exhibition from the three Pakistan left-arm pacers Mohammad Irfan, Rahat Ali, and Wahab Riaz that helped reduce South Africa to 77/5.
AB de Villiers soldiered on from one end, but the Pakistan pace attack made the most of the conditions to ensure he ran out of partners. He eventually got out with the score at 200/9 after making a terrific 58-ball 77, with Pakistan soon wrapping the game up with a 29-run win.
#1 vs New Zealand, World Cup 2023
This one is clearly the match whose outcome was most influenced by rain. All credit to Fakhar Zaman for playing one of the best WC knocks ever, but after scoring 400, New Zealand (NZ) losing was an outcome nobody expected, but the rain and some stupendous batting from Fakhar Zaman made it possible.
Babar Azam won the toss and chose to field in this must-win game for both teams. The New Zealand batters made the most of the stellar batting conditions, with Kane Williamson putting up a 90+ score and Rachin Ravindra notching up another hundred before some handy cameos propelled them to 401/6 in 50 overs.
At this point, Babar's toss decision was criticized by many, but it paid off once the rain started to come in. Pakistan knew the DLS par score after every over, and Fakhar Zaman took the responsibility of ensuring they were ahead of it as Babar Azam held up the other end without losing a wicket.
They were ahead when rain stopped play in the 21st over, and post the break, they simply laid into the NZ bowlers to add 40 runs in four overs to be 21 runs ahead of the DLS par score, at which point the rain returned and eventually led to play getting called off.
Pakistan won and deservedly so, but they'll certainly thank the rain gods for their help.