Zaman fires in Harare

BEST: THE PAKISTANI OPENING BATSMAN SCORED A CAREER-BEST 61

Zimbabweans fold tamely to give visitors win in first match of Tri-Series. Harare

Pakistan cruised to a 74-run win over their hosts in the opening match of the Zimbabwe Twenty20 Tri-Series yesterday. A career-best 61 from opening batsman Fakhar Zaman (right) and a late flurry of boundaries from Asif Ali and veteran batsman Shoaib Malik set up Pakistan’s imposing 182/4.

In reply, Zimbabwe mustered just 108 all out, with the wickets shared by Pakistan’s bowling attack – Mohammad Nawaz, Usman Khan, Mohammad Hafeez and Hasan Ali picked up two apiece.

Zaman kept Pakistan steady through the first half of their innings while Zimbabwe, having opted to bowl first, chipped away at the other end with regular strikes.

Hafeez, Hussain Talat and captain Sarfraz Ahmed fell cheaply, so Pakistan were helped by Zaman’s fluent scoring and he brought up his second T20I half century from 33 deliveries with a flick through square leg in the 13th over.

Two overs later he missed a heave at Chisoro and had his leg stump pegged back. By then, however, Pakistan were 121/4 and had set a considerable platform.

Ali and Malik combined to plunder 61 from the last five, including five sixes, as Zimbabwe’s bowlers struggled.

The hosts were further hampered by the loss of senior seamer Kyle Jarvis, who injured his hand in the 13th over and left the field with a suspected dislocation and fracture to his thumb.

Zimbabwe’s response with the bat never got going. Solomon Mire fired in fits and starts to record a 29-ball 27, while Tarisai Musakanda cracked a busy 43 in his debut T20I.

But there was little support from the rest of the top order, with Elton Chigumbura the only other batsman to reach double figures.

The Zimbabwean tail collapsed completely, the last four wickets falling for the addition of just six runs, with Hafeez taking 2/3 in his first over in international cricket since his bowling action was cleared as legal last month. –