‘Ye kya ho gaya bhaijaan’ – Fans react as Pakistan slips to third in ODI rankings after losing 5th ODI to New Zealand by 47 runs

After losing to an underperforming New Zealand by 47 runs in the fifth and final ODI on Sunday in Karachi, Pakistan dropped to No. 3 in the world rankings. This denied the host team from sweeping the series as well. After being dismissed for 252 in 46.1 overs, which was the lowest score of the series for Pakistan, dropping them to third place in the ODI standings behind Australia and India. After winning the fourth match of the series on Friday, Pakistan climbed to the top of the ODI rankings, but to stay there, it would have required a 5-0 whitewash.

Will Young’s (87) and captain Tom Latham’s (59) half-centuries provided the foundation for the Blackcaps’ total of 299 in 49.3 overs after Latham won the toss for the third time in a row in the Karachi leg of the series but elected to bat first. Iftikhar Ahmed, batting in the middle order, came close to scoring his first ODI century but fell short, scoring a courageous unbeaten 94 off 72 deliveries as Pakistan’s top order collapsed for the first time in the series.

It was a brilliant series, but didn’t finish it the way we wanted: Babar Azam

Due to their participation in the Indian Premier League (IPL), eight of New Zealand’s regular players pulled out from the white-ball tour to Pakistan. After trailing behind 2-0 in the series, New Zealand tied the T20I series 2-2.

“It was a brilliant series but didn’t finish it the way we wanted. We didn’t do well with the bat at the top and Agha and Iftikhar got a good partnership but we left too many runs for them. We always have to be prepared to perform irrespective of the conditions. Needed to play better cricket today. Overall, it was a good series for the team and our bowlers did well throughout. We wanted to check the bench strength and there were a lot of positives to take from this series. We chased 300-plus and also defended under 300, so it was a good series for us,” Babar was quoted as saying after winning the series.

Here’s how fans reacted after Pakistan slipped to third in the ODI rankings after losing to New Zealand in the 5th ODI by 47 runs:

https://twitter.com/Smart_Ladka/status/1655276479897571328

pic.twitter.com/lBa1Ro6ICV

— Aditya Singh (@S92522960Singh) May 7, 2023

https://twitter.com/ShubmanGang/status/1655276716355649543

https://twitter.com/walirehman903/status/1655276830725636097

That's enough for such a poor team like Pakistan to be at the top

— Pawan Shukla (@Shukla8175) May 7, 2023

https://twitter.com/ishaanmeet/status/1655387248635027456

It may change in the annual update on 10th May. Fingers crossed.

— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) May 7, 2023

https://twitter.com/SamiQur31911715/status/1655277253134090240