Pakistan fell to the third spot in the ICC ODI rankings after losing a match against New Zealand in Karachi on Sunday, ending its 48-hours stint as the top team in the world.

“We were number one in the last match. If we have fallen below the top spot… we were at the top spot,” Pakistan’s skipper Babar Azam said at a press conference. “We will continue our efforts…We played a good series but could not finish it. But we could have played good cricket. We will try to learn from our lapses in cricket and perform in the next matches.”

Pakistan needed to win on Sunday to consolidate their position at the top of the table before an annual update of the ICC ODI Team Rankings was carried out post-Ireland versus Bangladesh series.

The hosts won the series by 4-1 against the tourists, which were a depleted side after one of its players got injured and others were playing in the Indian Premier League.

But the side led by Tom Latham managed to draw the T20I series with some good performances from Mark Chapman and Jimmy Neesham.

New Zealand avoided the ODI series clean sweep after winning the final ODI of the five-match series by 47 runs. The Black Caps, which made sure to make Babar his 100th ODI forgettable, bowled in tight areas and picked early wickets in the powerplay.

They restricted the middle order, supported by opener Fakhar Zaman, by tight fielding, prompting them to play risky shots. This strategy led to wickets falling, piling up the run rate for the upcoming batters.

All-rounder Iftikhar Ahmed fought till the end, but could not finish it due to a lack of support from the other hand after Henry Shipley got Agha Salman out for 57. He was not out for 94. This was his second tireless after his quickfire, which gave hope to Pakistan for winning the series.

Despite the loss, Babar thinks that the series brought good results for the team that has been struggling to strengthen its middle order and bench strength.

With Mickey Arthur back in the coaching role, Pakistan are eyeing for its second World Cup title. But experts over the years have called for a better middle order to win the coveted trophy.

When asked about the impression that the visiting side was “depleted”, Babar negated such views. He was of the view that the team has to give its 100 per cent in front of every team as winning a match was never an easy pie.

Uncertainty looms over Pakistan’s participation in the World Cup in October-November because of tensions with hosts India.

Despite that and defeat in the final match on Sunday, Azam was in buoyant mood.

“Winning the series is great and so is achieving number one ranking that has set us in a good position for the World Cup,” said Babar.