Pakistan 148 for 0 (Ayub 113*, Shafiq 32*) defeated zimbabwe 145 (Myers 33, Williams 31, Abrar 4-33, Salman 3-26) by ten wickets
Pakistan made up for its poor performance in the first ODI and performed almost brilliantly in the second ODI by defeating Zimbabwe by ten wickets and leveled the series. opener Saim Ayyub Scored the fastest ODI century by any Pakistani other than Shahid Afridi, scoring three runs in 53 balls, helping Pakistan reach the target of 146 runs with 32 overs remaining. Pakistan’s spinners put Zimbabwe on the backfoot after being asked to bowl first, which led to an all-round performance. Abrar Ahmed4 wickets for 33 runs saw Zimbabwe out in 32.3 overs.
It was clear that Zimbabwe had fallen well short of par in the first innings, but Pakistan were 60 for 6 in the first ODI, and knew they had work to do after setting the target, no matter how modest. Why not to be. However, there was no drama this time as the openers got off to a great start and continued in the same vein. Ayub took the lead, thwarting Muzarabani’s early threat with his natural aggressiveness and giving Abdullah Shafiq Space to do things your way.
There were some initial setbacks. Richard Ngarawa took a thick outside edge from Ayub that went to the vacant second slip area, while Shafiq got a mistimed drive. shawn williams At backward point, just opening it up for the fielder.
By now Ayub had started meowing. Trevor Guandou, who came in as the first change, was greeted with two crisp shots on the off side, followed by a four and a six in his second over. That six completed Ayub’s half-century in 32 balls, and he was still only in third gear.
In the absence of scoreboard pressure the spinners could do very little. Legspinner Brandon Mavuta was sent off for hitting three consecutive fours at the start of the 14th over and 47 runs were scored in the four overs he bowled.
Sikandar RazaHe too, not being able to apply the handbrake which he often does, Ayub removed it as per his wish. It was on his ball that Ayub got a four which took him to three points. His restrained celebration – taking off the helmet and flashing a smile in the dressing room – did not capture the brilliance of the innings, but his cheering teammates in the pavilion knew he had done his job.
In the first innings, Pakistan’s spinners performed brilliantly with the ball and bowled out Zimbabwe for 145 runs. Winning the toss and electing to bat first, Zimbabwe got off to a great start. Dion Myers‘ Entertaining 33 runs from 30 balls, but the lack of meaningful contributions coupled with the discipline of Pakistan’s spinners prevented Zimbabwe from getting significant partnerships.
The second run-out in as many matches to break the opening stand included Tadivanashe Marumani and Joylord Gambi. Abrar Ahmed, opening the bowling with Aamir Jamal, took sharp turn to dismiss Gamby for his first ODI wicket before Myers and Craig Erwin began the rebuild.
Irwin was content to let Myers do the attacking, and together they managed to put Zimbabwe back on level terms by scoring 38 runs. But Salman AghaPerhaps one of Pakistan’s best spinners that day, he trapped Mayers in front and took a wicket from Erwin to push Zimbabwe back and wickets kept falling at regular intervals thereafter.
Another rebuild, this time from Williams and Raza, failed when Salman holed Raza through the off side, reducing Zimbabwe to 97 for 5. The lower-order collapse came when Williams attempted a reverse sweep off Ayub’s ball and saw it stranded in front, and the rest fell in a heap.
Zimbabwe lost the last five wickets for 24 runs as Abrar returned to take his fourth wicket, while Faisal Akram clean bowled Muzarabani to end the innings. It seemed fine then, and it didn’t become clear until Job’s work was completed.
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