Rizwan, Qadir help Pakistan down Zimbabwe in first T20 to take 1−0 lead
Pakistan managed 149-7 in 20 overs with their in-form wicketkeeper batsman Rizwan anchoring the innings ater they were sent in to bat. Zimbabwe looked threatening at 77-2 in the tenth over but Qadir (3-29) and pacer Hasnain (2-27) kept them to 138-7 in the alloted 20 overs
Mohammad Rizwan hit a fighting 82 while leg-spinner Usman Qadir grabbed three wickets as Pakistan edged out Zimbabwe by 11 runs in the first Twenty20 international in Harare on Wednesday.
Pakistan managed 149-7 in their 20 overs with their in-form wicketkeeper batsman Rizwan anchoring the innings ater they were sent in to bat.
Zimbabwe looked threatening at 77-2 in the tenth over but Qadir (3-29) and pacer Mohammad Hasnain (2-27) kept them to 138-7 in the alloted 20 overs.
Zimbabwe needed 20 off the last over but fast bowler Haris Rauf kept tight length to concede just eight to pull off a hard earned win, helping Pakistan to 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
The second and third match will also be played in Harare on Friday and Sunday.
The hosts lost two wickets in the third over to right-arm fast bowler Mohammad Hasnain with 21 runs on the board. Tinashe Kamunhukamwe (29 off 35, three fours) and Craig Ervine ( 34 off 23, three fours, one six) knited 56 runs for the third-wicket to help Zimbabwe stage a comeback.
That Zimbabwe came close to Pakistan’s target was due mainly to the late onslaught from Luke Jongwe, who struck three fours and a six and returned unbeaten on 30 off 23 balls.
Pakistan started the innings on the wrong foot when their world famous batsman Babar Azam fell in the second over, playing a casual shot into the hands of cover fielder for just two.
Babar, who was aiming to become the fastest and 11th player overall to score 2,000 T20I runs, last week was named the No. 1-player on the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) One-day International (ODI) rankings, and was needing only 60 more runs to break India skipper Virat Kohli’s record of fastest to 2,000 T20I runs.
Rizwan added two solid stands of 34 each with Fakhar Zaman (13) and debutant Danish Aziz (15) but senior batsman Mohammad Hafeez (five) and Haider Ali (five) failed.
Zimbabwe could have had more wickets had they not dropped four catches, the most costly was of Rizwan when on just 13.
Rizwan, who cracked ten boundaries and a six off 61 balls, smashed 20 off the final Richard Ngarava over to take Pakistan to a fighting total.
Part-tim spinner Wesley Madhevere (2-11) and seamer Jongwe (2-24) were Zimbabwe’s successful bowlers. If Pakistan make a clean sweep of the three-match series against Zimbabwe, they will gain one point and narrow the gap with thirdranked Australia to four points.
Scoreboard Pakistan
Mohammad Rizwan not out 82 Babar Azam c Burl b Muzarabani 2 Fakhar Zaman b Madhevere 13 Hafeez c Ngarava b Madhevere 5 Danish Aziz c Ngarava b Jongwe 15 Haider Ali b Jongwe 5
Faheem Ashraf run out 1 Nawaz c Chakabva b Ngarava 9 Usman Qadir not out 2
Total: (Overs 20; for seven wkts) 149 Bowling: Masakadza 3-0-20-0 (1w), Muzarabani 4-0-22-1 (1w), Ngarava 4-0-48-1 (8w), Jongwe 3-0-24-2 (2w), Madhevere 2-0-11-2, Burl 3-0-15-0 (1w), Williams 1-0-7-0
Zimbabwe
Kamunhukamwe st Rizwan b Hafeez 29 W Madhevere c Azam b Hasnain 14 T Marumani c Azam b Hasnain 0 C Ervine c Nawaz b Qadir 34 R Burl b Rauf 14 S Williams c Zaman b Qadir 9 R Chakabva lbw b Qadir 3 L Jongwe not out 30 W Masakadza not out 2 Total: (Overs 20, for seven wkts) 138 Bowling: Hasnain 4-0-27-2 (1w), Ashraf 2-0-16-0, Nawaz 2-0-15-0, Rauf 4-0-29-1 (1w), Qadir 4-0-29-3, Hafeez 4-0-21-1