Pakistan in on the tour of Zimbabwe and it played the first T20I match against Zimbabwe of the two T20I matches series. Pakistan won the first T20i match against Zimbabwe by 13 runs at Harare Sports Club. This first T20I match was played at Harare on 27 September on Sunday.
Pakistan won the toss and started its batting but its initial wickets could not perform well and these wickets were fallen early and Pakistan team was caught in the fix. Shoaib Malik and Muhammad Rizwan showed their performance and they made 35 and 33 runs respectively. Imad Wasim scored 19 runs in 12 balls and he also took four wickets in his bowling spell and was declared the man of the match. Imran Khan Junior was playing his first T20I match and he impressed by his bowling. Although he could not get any wicket, yet he created problems for the batsmen of opponent team. He gave away only 2 runs in his last over and restricted the opponent team to 123 runs and in this way, Pakistan won this first T20I match by 13 runs.
When Zimbabwe started the chase of the match, they could not show their performance well and their whole team was collapsed on 123 runs. Elton Chigumbura played the captain inning and he scored 31 runs on 28 balls, which is the highest total from their side. They could not face Imad Wasim confidently and he took four wickets of Zimbabwe cricket team. From Zimbabwe side, Chamu Chibhabha took three wickets after giving only 18 runs.
Shahid Afridi:
“I am disappointing with the batting as I set the target of 160 to 170 runs but our batsmen could manage only 136 runs, which was not sufficient. Our bowling side was good and they bowled the balls on the line and length, which helped the team to get the wickets of the opponent team and finally won the match. Imad is good spinner and we need such player in absence of Ajmal & he played his part in the win of the team.’
Imad Wasim:
‘Today was good day for me as I have performed my team and I contributed in the victory of Pakistan. I played according to the situation of the game and bowled the balls from wicket to wicket, which was advised by my captain and coach and I was succeeded in getting four wickets, which was the turning point of the match and the result of the match went in favor of Pakistan.’
Elton Chigumbura:
‘The wicket was slow and it was good chance for us to chase this normal target. But our batting was collapsed and we did not perform well and no batsmen could manage to play well and scored good runs. Consistent falling of wickets was the main reason of our defeat and we lost this match, which we managed to win easily.’
Teams
Pakistan: Shahid Afridi (C ), Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Mukhtar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Ahmed Shahzad, Imran Khan Jr, Muhammad Rizwan (W), Sohail Tanveer, Wahab Riaz, Sohaib Maqsood,
Zimbabwe: Elton Chigumbura (C), Craig Ervine, Sikandar Raza, Hamilton Masakadza, Jongwe, Sean Williams, Panyangara, Mutumbami (W), Chamu Chibhabha, Prosper Utseya, Greame Cremer.