The last time Zimbabwe beat Pakistan in any format was 15 years ago. Back then, Pakistan lost to arguably the most formidable Zimbabwe side in history - one that was capable of standing up to the best international sides. With the cricketing climate in the country having undergone a drastic change since then, any victory by current setup against a top side will be remembered for long. Coming off a disappointing T20 series, where Zimbabwe failed to figure out how to close out a chase, they held their composure and applied themselves better despite the short turnaround time.
A strong opening stand of 107 between Vusi Sibanda and Hamilton Masakadza was the bedrock in their chase of 245. Having dealt with the seamers with ease during the T20s, Zimbabwe's chances of victory hung on how they would perform outside their comfort zone. They looked ill at ease against the spin trio in the T20s but crucially, this time, they didn't let the spinners run away with the advantage. Saeed Ajmal managed to strike, but the long interval between breakthroughs meant that Pakistan were always playing catch-up. In the closing stages, Pakistan had created enough pressure to bring the equation down to a run-a-ball, but a combination of poor fielding and freakish luck meant that it was Zimbabwe's day.
Before this match, Masakadza spoke about the importance of his duty, as an opener, to set the base and not allow pressure to build on the lower order. Back at the top, a position he is comfortable with, and with an opening partner from school days, Masakadza took the initiative by hammering Junaid Khan for three boundaries in an over. The openers were strong through the off side against the left-armers and the boundary barrage prompted captain Misbah-ul-Haq to bring in spin from both ends from the eighth over.
Before this match, Masakadza spoke about the importance of his duty, as an opener, to set the base and not allow pressure to build on the lower order. Back at the top, a position he is comfortable with, and with an opening partner from school days, Masakadza took the initiative by hammering Junaid Khan for three boundaries in an over. The openers were strong through the off side against the left-armers and the boundary barrage prompted captain Misbah-ul-Haq to bring in spin from both ends from the eighth over.
The spinners managed to keep the runs down but wickets eluded them. Misbah used all five bowlers by the end of 12 overs and the breakthrough finally came in the 24th, when Sibanda stayed back to an Ajmal ball that spun back in. Masakadza reached his fifty the following over and continued to take on the spinners, sweeping Ajmal and reading Shahid Afridi's variations in pace. He chipped down the track and lofted Afridi over extra cover for six and in an over that produced 13. The frustration showed in Pakistan's fielding, when in that over, a drive back to the bowler should have been stopped, but the resultant misfield produced two runs.
Masakadza fell during the batting Powerplay, smashing Ajmal straight to cover. It was only temporary relief for Pakistan because by then Taylor was set, having already scored four boundaries. Pakistan didn't do themselves any favours in the field, though. A struggling Timycen Maruma tried to loft over long-on but Ahmed Shehzad was in two minds whether to catch or stop the ball and the ball bounced over his head for four. Taylor himself was let off, on 37, when a reverse sweep went straight to point where Junaid dropped it.
Luck was firmly in Zimbabwe's favour. Maruma's wobbly knock suggested that Zimbabwe were starting to panic, but Sean Williams, aided by some good fortune, ensured his side held the edge with a spicy cameo. An inside edge off Junaid hit the base of the stumps but miraculously, didn't dislodge the bails. Worse still for Pakistan, it went for four. Williams sealed the win in style, smashing a six over midwicket to give Zimbabwe their first ODI win against a top team since October 2011.
Pakistan, winning the toss, found runs hard to come by at the start due to steady seam bowling, recovered in the middle thanks to Mohammad Hafeez's brisk half-century, and stumbled towards the end, failing to accelerate due to the pressure caused by the sudden fall of wickets. What prevented them from suffering a complete meltdown was Misbah-ul-Haq, who carried on his good form from the West Indies with his fourth consecutive fifty.
It was a mixed day for Zimbabwe in the field. A series of drops at the start showed that the team had hardly made any progress on that front since the India tour. Mohammad Hafeez was a beneficiary of one of those drops, when on 10. He went on to score 70, but the pace of his innings was crucial, with Misbah not deviating from his tried and tested conservative approach in the middle overs.
Hafeez found early momentum with three sixes off Prosper Utseya, down the ground, though he was lucky the second one wasn't pouched at the boundary's edge. Hafeez was strong through the off side, punishing the offspinners in particular. He picked 48 of his 70 runs off Utseya and Malcolm Waller, picking the large gaps square of the wicket on the off side.
Pakistan struggled to maintain a healthy run-rate following that wicket. Umar Amin was run-out trying to complete a second run. Afridi played a typical blink-and-you-missed-it cameo before edging a slog. Haris Sohail was caught brilliantly by Utseya, who plucked a one-handed blinder at short cover - a catch good enough to forget the sitters put down earlier by Zimbabwe.
Misbah's innings had a high percentage of singles - he had scored only two fours till the 46th over, and yet had managed a decent strike-rate of 81.69. Yet, he saved his big hitting only for the final over, mowing Tinashe Panyangara for massive blows over the on side to take Pakistan to 244. It was well short of stretching the hosts, who are a win away from sealing the series.
25 overs Zimbabwe 112 for 1 (Masakadza 50*, Taylor 2*) need a further 133 runs to beat Pakistan 244 for 7 (Misbah 83*, Hafeez 70)
Before this match, Hamilton Masakadza spoke about the importance of his duty, as an opener, to set the base and not allow pressure to build on the lower order. Masakadza and his partner Vusi Sibanda made promising starts in the two T20s before giving it away, but in the longer format settled in well with a positive stand chasing 245. The pair put on an encouraging stand of 107, before Sibanda fell shortly after making his fifty.
Pakistan brought in Junaid Khan, who missed the T20s, but he came in for some stick. His third over went for 12, which included three boundaries by Masakadza. The openers were strong through the off side against the left-armers and the boundary barrage prompted captain Misbah-ul-Haq to bring in spin from both ends from the eighth over.
The spinners managed to keep the runs down but wickets eluded them. Misbah used all five bowlers by the end of 12 overs and the breakthrough finally came in the 24th, when Sibanda stayed back to a Saeed Ajmal ball that spun back in. Sibanda had, in the previous over, smashed Mohammad Irfan over midwicket to bring up his fifty, but the bowling change produced a wicket. Masakadza reached his fifty the following over and at the halfway stage, having got the required start and a well-set batsman, all Zimbabwe needed was the composure to close out the chase.
50 overs Pakistan 244 for 7 (Misbah 83*, Hafeez 70) v Zimbabwe
Pakistan's innings was a story of three parts. They found runs hard to come by at the start due to steady seam bowling, recovered in the middle thanks to Mohammad Hafeez's brisk half-century, and stumbled towards the end, failing to accelerate due to the pressure caused by the sudden fall of wickets. What prevented them from suffering a complete meltdown was Misbah-ul-Haq, who carried on his good form from the West Indies with his fourth consecutive fifty.
It was a mixed day for Zimbabwe in the field. A series of drops at the start showed that the team had hardly made any progress on that front since the India tour. While the Pakistan openers failed to capitalise on those let-offs, the drop that really cost Zimbabwe was Mohammad Hafeez's, when on 10. He went on to score 70, putting Pakistan on course for a competitive total. The pace of his innings was crucial, with Misbah not deviating from his tried and tested conservative approach in the middle overs.
With play beginning half an hour later than the scheduled start time for the India ODIs that preceded this tour, the conditions were expected to favour the batsmen more. Instead, the seamers dictated terms, beating the bat on several occasions, especially against Nasir Jamshed. Having gone six innings without a fifty - including the T20s - Jamshed was under pressure to score, and his innings could have ended on 5 had Vusi Sibanda held a sitter at second slip.
Shehzad's was the wicket Zimbabwe needed more desperately, having conceded two half-centuries to him - including a 98 - in the T20s. Tinashe Panyangara was the unlucky bowler yet again when Shehzad, on 15, spooned a drive straight to extra cover, where Sean Williams dropped a straightforward chance. Ironically, Panyangara later went from playing victim to culprit when he palmed a six over long-off, having come forward a few yards to catch Hafeez on the boundary.
Prosper Utseya gave Zimbabwe their first breakthrough when Shehzad was beaten and stumped. Jamshed's wicket was reward for some probing seam bowling by Tendai Chatara, who drew the left-hander forward for the drive and induced a thin edge to the keeper. Hafeez found early momentum with three sixes off Utseya, down the ground, though he was lucky the second one wasn't pouched at the boundary's edge.
Hafeez was strong through the off side, punishing the offspinners in particular. He picked 48 of his 70 runs off Utseya and Malcolm Waller, picking the large gaps square of the wicket on the off side. Brendan Taylor, perhaps sensing a big partnership, kept rotating his bowlers, using as many as eight bowlers by 31 overs. The part-timer, Hamilton Masakadza, should have had Hafeez on 55, but Taylor, who stood up to the stumps, failed to gather the ball. That lapse cost Zimbabwe 15 runs before Hafeez tamely cut Chatara straight to short third man.
Pakistan struggled to maintain a healthy run-rate following that wicket. Umar Amin was run-out trying to complete a second run. Shahid Afridi played a typical blink-and-you-missed-it cameo before edging a slog. Haris Sohail was caught brilliantly by Utseya, who plucked a one-handed blinder at short cover - a catch good enough to forget the sitters put down earlier by Zimbabwe.
Misbah's innings had a high percentage of singles - he had scored only two fours till the 46th over, and yet had managed a decent strike-rate of 81.69. Yet, he saved his big hitting only for the final over, mowing Panyangara for massive blows over the on side to take Pakistan to 244. Zimbabwe will be pleased they restricted Pakistan to this score after the Hafeez-Misbah partnership, but their chances of chasing it down would depend on how they tackle Pakistan's spin-heavy attack, that had caused them much discomfort in the T20 series that concluded before.
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