Fakhar Zaman’s century helped Pakistan complete the joint-highest successful chase in an ODI final.
Baig scored 74 off 75 balls, registering his maiden ODI half-century. The victory gave Pakistan their first ODI tri-series title since 2008, when they defeated India in the Kitply Cup final in Bangladesh. It also helped them make amends for their defeat to New Zealand in the final of the home tri-series in 2025.
Whenever there is a final, I seem to score runs,” he said. Zaman said his young teammate’s approach allowed him to take his time at the other end. I prepared for this game in exactly the same way. But that’s the thing: when you score runs, we start talking about how mentally ready you were, how your fitness was and all of that. I prepared for this match in the same way I had prepared for the other games. “Look, the way my first four matches had gone, I felt a good performance was due, and I was putting in the effort. But cricket is such a game that sometimes you’re in really good touch, but the runs just don’t come. “Absolutely. Look, whatever performances you put in throughout the tournament, you do them with the aim of winning the trophy. And when you score runs in the final, the happiness is even greater.
Luckily, the runs came today,” Zaman said. Even today, I was struggling a little at the start, but luckily the runs came, and that’s a good thing for me. I consider myself lucky that I managed to score runs in the final today,” he said.
In my opinion, his was the best innings of the match,” Zaman said. “I’ve played domestic cricket with him as well, and he’s a very talented player. That allowed me to relax and take my time. If he had also played slowly like me, perhaps I would have tried to take a few more chances, and if you take those chances, you can end up losing your wicket. So the credit goes to him for the way he started and the way he built his innings.
Even today, when I was struggling at that stage, he came in and scored quite quickly.
Speaking after winning the Player of the Match award, Zaman explained how he dealt with his lack of runs in the previous four matches and why he never changed his approach.