KARACHI: The last time Fakhar Zaman played an international match here at the National Stadium, he scored a century against New Zealand. The knock, however, turned out to be in losing cause as late fireworks by Glenn Phillips sealed a 2-1 One-day International series win for the visitors on a peak winter night in the metropolis.

Fast-forward three months, the Black Caps are back in Pakistan for five more one-dayers and are 2-0 down thanks to consecutive Fakhar hundreds in Rawalpindi — match-winning ones this time.

With scores of 117 and 180 not out on his back, the opener will be back in Karachi for the third match of the series on Wednesday and it will be expected of him to help Pakistan achieve an unassailable lead.

With a squad depleted by the absence of their top players due to the ongoing Indian Premier League, New Zealand did manage to tie the preceding five-match T20 series after losing the first two matches. In the one-dayers, though, Fakhar is standing between the visitors and a similar comeback.

“Fakhar Zaman has played incredibly in the last two matches and I think to be able to break that initial partnership is going to be very important for us as a bowling unit,” New Zealand spinner Ish Sodhi said during the pre-match press conference here on Tuesday.

“The last two games he’s just played exceptionally well and taken a couple of games away from us and that’s been pretty amazing to watch he’s at the top of his game.

“Very important to look to take early wickets I think that’s where Pakistan have definitely beaten us in these games.”

As Pakistan wicket-keeper/batter Mohammad Rizwan said a day earlier, the conditions in Karachi — set to host the last three matches of the series — will be different to those in Rawalpindi.

The change in conditions and the fact that the New Zealand bowlers will be better prepared against Fakhar, the fiery southpaw may have a tricky challenge at hand.

“I think our bowling unit has been really good in terms of coming together and trying to formulate plans against Fakhar,” said Sodhi, who has established himself as the frontline spinner for the Kiwis just before the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in India later this year.

“We’ve got three games to go so we’re going have to find a way to be able to get him out and that’s something really exciting.”

New Zealand’s bowling strategies will be built around their Sodhi-led spin attack featuring Cole McConchie and Rachin Ravindra. On their last visit to Karachi, the dry and cold atmosphere helped the spinners.

The weather in the hustling city is hot and humid now and the pitches at the National Stadium may not provide as much assistance to spinners as they did in January.

“We played here two or three months ago but I think during that time it was a different climate,” observed Sodhi.

“A few of the Pakistani players were saying that it used to be a little bit wet during winter and so when there was a bit of moisture it probably held on the wicket slightly more and you know you got a bit of purchase as a spin bowler.

“But I think having a look at it yesterday, it looks quite dry. Generally when you see that white sheen on the wicket it’s quite low but I think it’s important not to have too many preconceived ideas before you go in and see the wicket and you really have to take that time to assess and fortunately in one day cricket you’ve got a little bit of time up your sleeve to have a look at how the wicket is playing and then make your plans for the rest of the game.”

New Zealand are not getting carried away by the confidence they got from their exploits in the T20 series. Sodhi believed it would be a huge challenge for the inexperienced visitors to repeat the feat in a format which demands more patience.

“Looking at the T20 series it was fantastic that we were able to make a bit of a comeback after two losses,” said the 30-year-old. “We played fantastically well with a very, very inexperienced side, not only in games but especially in these conditions, we did really well for that.

“The ODI is obviously a slightly longer game, so you have to be patient for longer periods of time.

“..so the quicker we can adapt to these conditions having played here earlier this year a few of us we can pass that information on to the younger guys they haven’t played here before and hopefully we can hit the ground running when it comes to the first ODI in Karachi tomorrow.”

In the remaining part of the series, Pakistan will have the option the test hard-hitting batter Iftikhar Ahmed — who replaced an injured Haris Sohail in the squad — at the number five position in place of Rizwan, who has openly expressed his unhappiness over being made to play a spot lower than what he would prefer. Meanwhile, pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi is expected to replace fast bowler Ihsanullah for the third ODI as Pakistan continue to adopt a rotation policy for their quicks.

Published in Dawn, May 3rd, 2023