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Pakistan vs New Zealand: Who was the real Man of the Match - Shaheen Shah Afridi or Babar Azam?

Man of the Match?

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Surprised Shaheen wasn't given the man of the match, as he created problems for the opposition.

Babar i understand for a 100, but man of the match?
 
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Babar Azam. Shaheen bowled well and took three wickets in his first 6 overs but Babar Azam won us this game, he came in at 19-1.
 
Both. I already said this in the post-match thread, Babar will get MOTM, but Shaheen gave us the platform with that outstanding bowling spell.
 
Had Pakistan been batting first and got this score, the it was understandable.

The reason wy NZ lost was because of the wickets and pressure Shaheen created. Shaheen alone created alot of pressure on NZ
 
First non-opener to score a century in the World cup since 1987, in a must-win game. The stupidity is beyond me.
 
It's totally fine to give it to Babar but my vote would've been for Shaheen =) Amazing performances by both of them!
 
Babar

Though, Shaheen had an excellent game, it was Babar's innings that ensured Pakistan chased a very challenging target.
 
Babar, this chase was never easy. Had Kiwis been restricted below 200, and still Babar scoring a hundred, then Shaheen would have been MoM.

Babar’s batting made it look easy, but had Kiwis batted 2nd today, against 30 overs of spin ..,...
 
Shaheen set the game, but I will go with Babar. Wasn’t an easy chase. And he made it comfortable in the end.
 
I will usually rate the one who performed in the first innings more than the second. The player in the second innings benefits from the first innings performance. Had Shaheen not bowled that spell, the target would probably be 30-40 runs higher. Babar benefited from the pressure Shaheen had created.
 
Shaheen Afridi

Nobody should have any doubt about.

Without SSA's 10 overs today, NZ would have easily scored close to 300 if not more. And trust me, PCT wouldn't have chased that down.
 
We're atuned to give it to Babar or Shaheen because that's what seems logical.

Haris played the key role at a key time.
 
If Shaheen got a 5fer and dismissed NZ for under 200, he would have deserved MOM, but there was a lot of work still left to do with a chase of 238 required against a quality bowling attack on a tough wicket. Babar Azam scored almost half the runs and therefore deserved the accolade instead.

Also one should ask the OP, if Misbah had scored the ton, would he have still backed Shaheen for the award?
 
Cpt. Rishwat said:
Both. I already said this in the post-match thread, Babar will get MOTM, but Shaheen gave us the platform with that outstanding bowling spell.
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I like how Pakistan's recent performance has brought out your inner Pakistani. No more denying your roots, until the end of the WC at least.
 
Shaheen bowled really well and his spell was crucial for restricting NZ to under 240 BUT this pitch was very difficult to bat on,seeing the ridiculous amount of turn it was offering and if Babar had gotten out early we would not have been able to chase this down.Haris alone wouldnt have been able to do it with batsmen like Sarfaraz,Shadab,Imad to come.His innings which soaked in all the pressure and transferred it to the opposition was why we were able to execute this runchase so clinically so he was well deserving of this MoM.
 
So typically for me - in a game where the first innings team performance is above-par and you have a standout performer, it should go to him. In CT Final our first innings score was definitely above-par and we had a standout performer in Fakhar Zaman, which is why he deserved it over Amir (the idea is that it was Fakhar's innings that allowed Amir the freedom to perform).

Similarly today, our first innings performance was above-par (let's face it, if someone told you NZ will bat first and make under 240 you would take it 9/10 times considering the high-scoring nature of pitches at this tournament). That's why I thought Shaheen deserved it; 3-29 are ridiculous returns from 10 overs in this tournament and the low score took the pressure off Babar to score quickly and allowed him to thrive.

Anyway, that's just my reasoning - again, both were outstanding (just as both Amir & Fakhar was outstanding in CT final)
 
zulfiqar said:
So typically for me - in a game where the first innings team performance is above-par and you have a standout performer, it should go to him. In CT Final our first innings score was definitely above-par and we had a standout performer in Fakhar Zaman, which is why he deserved it over Amir (the idea is that it was Fakhar's innings that allowed Amir the freedom to perform).

Similarly today, our first innings performance was above-par (let's face it, if someone told you NZ will bat first and make under 240 you would take it 9/10 times considering the high-scoring nature of pitches at this tournament). That's why I thought Shaheen deserved it; 3-29 are ridiculous returns from 10 overs in this tournament and the low score took the pressure off Babar to score quickly and allowed him to thrive.

Anyway, that's just my reasoning - again, both were outstanding (just as both Amir & Fakhar was outstanding in CT final)
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I wanted to add that in games where the team's performance was poor in the first innings but they still won, a standout performer from the 2nd innings would've deserved it. For example if someone took a 5'er but the opposition still made 340, but the team chased it down and there was a guy who made a 79* (60) - I might give it to the batsman because his performance would've come under more difficult circumstances.

So a bowler would get it for restricting a side to or defending a below-par score and the batsman would get it for chasing down or setting up an above-par score.
 
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Shaheen deserved the MOM in this match. His figures of 3 for 9 at one stage won Pak this match.
 
For me shaheen, babar and haris were ALL equally the men of the match!
Everyone in the team mashAllah played well, except for my favourite player fakhar.
Fakhar needs to use his brain, because we need him if we want to win the wc!
I always admired haris as a batsman, from when he debut for pak in 2014!
I think he is now my favourite player!
 
Captain caveman said:
For me shaheen, babar and haris were ALL equally the men of the match!
Everyone in the team mashAllah played well, except for my favourite player fakhar.
Fakhar needs to use his brain, because we need him if we want to win the wc!
I always admired haris as a batsman, from when he debut for pak in 2014!
I think he is now my favourite player!
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Don't worry. He's about to score a double-hundred against AFG and will make up for any lost runs.
 
Did you watch the match?it's a no brainer,if the pitch was flat ssa should have been mom but it was a minefield.
 
Babar, because when imam and fakhar were in the shed and hafeez was struggling Vs lockie and santner was looking unplayable, the target looked miles away.
It would have been very tough for any new batsman to come and score a run a ball for a long time if haris or Babar had got out
 
Babar Azam

1st century by a non opener for Pakistan since 1987 in world cups
 
I think Shaheen played most important part. If he hadn't taken those wickets then target would be around 280 and NZ would have won.

But these motm awards are biased towards batsmen.
 
I the only reason I would give o Babar was he was really struggling against Santer but did not lose his cool, any other Pakistani batsman would have given away their wicket (Hafeez comes to mind) thus causing Pakistan the match. All three i.e. Shaheen, Babar and Haris deserve the MOM but Babar batted during the toughest phase of the game and saved himself thus saving his team's World Cup dream.
 
Did you watch the match? Did you see Babar's innings?

The right person got the award.
 
aloo paratha said:
I will usually rate the one who performed in the first innings more than the second. The player in the second innings benefits from the first innings performance. Had Shaheen not bowled that spell, the target would probably be 30-40 runs higher. Babar benefited from the pressure Shaheen had created.
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Why don't you like Babar?
 
Babar played an excellent innings ..but Shahin was the real MOTM
 
Babar-Haris partnership becoz despite Shaheen's brilliant bowling spell, Pakistan could so easily have lost this game.

They were tottering (110/3) when Hafeez got out playing a highly irresponsible and pathetic shot esp. given the tense match situation; needlessly holed out
 
AZulfi said:
Babar-Haris partnership becoz despite Shaheen's brilliant bowling spell, Pakistan could so easily have lost this game.

They were tottering (110/3) when Hafeez got out playing a highly irresponsible and pathetic shot esp. given the tense match situation; needlessly holed out
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needing 130 with 7 wickets on a decent wicket is tricky but not the toughest chase

crushing the top order of the best side in the tournament is definitely a game changer.. it wasn't just the wickets with Shaheen, he also basically gave away nothing in his first 7 overs
 
Babar. Our players are twice as nervous when chasing than they are batting first. I honestly expected him to get out and not go till the end. Glad to have been proven wrong. Hope Babar and Shaheen continue like this for years to come.
 
I guess it was the only century of the match & the idea of a Pakistani pacer taking 3 wickets is an excellent performance but not such a surprise as if you had said a Pakistani batsman will score a clutch century in a must win chase on a tricky pitch to guide what was really a pretty solid chasing effort. He rode the early wobbles & then kept the chase strong.

If Shaheen had just got 1 more wicket to break that big partnership or kill off NZ then he probably wins it.

Both excellent performances but they had to pick one.
 
coy0607 said:
needing 130 with 7 wickets on a decent wicket is tricky but not the toughest chase

crushing the top order of the best side in the tournament is definitely a game changer.. it wasn't just the wickets with Shaheen, he also basically gave away nothing in his first 7 overs
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NZ were found out when they played better opposition, Pakistan and Australia. Their match against India was abandoned.

Chasing Australia's modest total, their top order was blown away by Starc and co. NZ batted like Windies yesterday


On a side note, England lost all games while chasing in this WC. Today they are cruising against India thanks to winning the toss and batting first on a good pitch in sunny weather. Proof that most sides struggle when when chasing a total. India's batting will be tested today


That said first batting is only an advantage if you bat well
 
They both were brilliant, but I think it had to be Shaheen. His spell took the game away from NZ, got out 3 great batsman super early and got Pak into a very good position.
 
Rayyman said:
You've never said anything positive.

Same with Amir which is understandable, but Babar clearly won Pakistan that match and you are struggling to give him credit.
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I did give him credit for his innings in one of the other threads made post match. Yes, I have said that he is the king of soft runs, but it was true. His 100 against New Zealand was the first time he scored a match winning knock, under pressure against a good side. I may have criticized him a lot but at the end of the day he is our best bat, no doubt about that.
 
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