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Would Be Naive to Expect to Go Through World Cup Unbeaten: Neesham

It was the Black Caps’ first loss in the tournament following five wins and a washed-out game against India.

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World Cup
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Pakistan enhanced its reputation as the most unpredictable team in international cricket with a six-wicket victory that kept its World Cup semifinal hopes alive, ruined New Zealand's perfect record, heaped more pressure on host England and had fans reliving memories of 1992.

Babar Azam hit his 10th ODI century, finishing 101 not out off 127 balls, as Pakistan reached 241-4 with five balls to spare in reply to New Zealand's 237-6.

New Zealand’s unbeaten spell was broken and batsman James Neesham said that it would be naive to think that one team can go through the tournament without getting defeated.

“I think you’d be pretty naive to expect to go through the whole tournament unbeaten. There’s too many quality teams to expect to win every game,” Neesham told reporters at a post match conference.

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It was the Black Caps’ first loss in the tournament following five wins and a washed-out game against India.

For some optimistic Pakistan fans this campaign is looking very familiar.

Imran Khan's team in 1992 also had only two wins in its first six matches — with an identical record to the 2019 Pakistan team — and went on to win the title.

Neesham was impressed by Pakistani bowling attack, saying, “Pakistan’s bowling is obviously pretty impressive,” adding, “I think we potentially got a goal that was defendable but, obviously the way Babar Azam and Haris Sohail batted, didn’t allow us to gain some momentum and try and get into the middle order. ”

Kneecap added, “We prepared for a tournament where we’d probably lose one or two games, but for us it’s all about making it to the semifinals, (when) you’re only two games away from lifting the trophy.”

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(With inputs from AP)

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Topics:  new zealand   Pakistan   ICC World Cup 2019 

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