Pakistan 165 for 4 (Tayyab 39*, Usman 39, Raza 1-14) beaten Zimbabwe 108 (Raza 39, Muqeem 3-20 Abrar 3-28) by 57 points
The visitors included Saim Ayub in the T20I squad just before the start of the series, and the in-form left-hander was instrumental in getting them started. Omair Yousaf faced Blessing Muzarabani at second but was lucky to be there, after being dropped at first. Zimbabwe’s catching was a problem for much of the innings; in the sequel, Usman Khan was brought down with the first ball he faced. Ayub scooped the next ball for a glorious six, while Usman helped himself to 11 in the ensuing over. By the end of the fifth over, Pakistan had moved to 49, and on a batting surface of over 200, that didn’t seem unrealistic.
Sikandar Raza’s consistency is almost boring at this point, but he was at his best on Sunday. Coming into play as Pakistan flew away at the end of the powerplay, he sent down four near-perfect overs, barely landing a ball in the wrong place. Thirteen of his 24 deliveries were dot balls as he gave away just 14 runs during his stay. It was around this time that Pakistan slowed almost to a screeching halt, making 63 borderless deliveries.
At the other end, Ryan Burl and Wellington Masakadza held down the fort as wickets fell at regular intervals; between the end of the 6th over and the start of the 19th over, Pakistan could only score 79 runs in 13 overs. This will invariably leave Pakistan with questions to ask of their middle order who seemed unable to cope with pressure or maintain the scoring pace, with captain Salman Ali Agha struggling the most.
An attack in the last two overs took Pakistan to 165, but Zimbabwe came out of the traps with the belief that they could follow this up. Undeterred by the early defeat of Brian Bennett and Dion Myers, Marumani and Raza took on Pakistan and defeated them in the power play. Marumani plundered 20 runs in Jehandad Khan’s second over, while three consecutive fours from Raza off Abrar Ahmed took Zimbabwe to 50 in the fifth over, quicker than Pakistan had managed in their good start.
But Zimbabwe’s Achilles heel has been the lower middle order, and that proved once again. As soon as a careless outing ended Marumani’s innings, the rot set in again. Raza was isolated at the non-striker’s end as Pakistan made use of the wickets. Rauf had Ryan Burl slapping at mid-round while Muqeem dismissed Clive Madande, and it soon became clear that any effort for victory would have to be a one-man show.
But a nice change of pace from Jehandad Khan and a precise catch from Ayub brought the curtain down on Raza’s enterprising shot, and the game ended like a contest. Muqeem struck twice in the over, while Abrar completed the victory with the final wicket; Zimbabwe had lost their last eight balls in 43 balls.
