Pakistan vs. Zimbabwe, 2nd ODI, 2015: Highlights, Scorecard and Recap
Pakistan clinched the one-day international series against Zimbabwe after a comfortable six-wicket win in Lahore put them 2-0 ahead in the three-match contest.
The hosts limited Zimbabwe to 268 for seven from their 50 overs. Sikandar Raza played beautifully, finishing up unbeaten on 100 from 84 balls, while earlier in the innings Chamu Chibhabha was agonisingly dismissed on 99.
Nonetheless, Pakistan were able to chase the score down with ease; a diligent innings of 102 from Azhar Ali and an unbeaten 52 from Haris Sohail helped their side to 269 for four with 16 balls remaining.
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| V Sibanda | b Mohammad Hafeez | 13 | 47 | |
| CJ Chibhabha | c †Sarfraz Ahmed b Shoaib Malik | 99 | 100 | |
| H Masakadza* | c Mohammad Hafeez b Yasir Shah | 18 | 20 | |
| SC Williams | c & b Yasir Shah | 5 | 9 | |
| Sikandar Raza | not out | 100 | 84 | |
| R Mutumbami† | c Asad Shafiq b Anwar Ali | 7 | 26 | |
| CK Coventry | c †Sarfraz Ahmed b Wahab Riaz | 10 | 8 | |
| AG Cremer | c sub (Ahmed Shehzad) b Wahab Riaz | 2 | 3 | |
| T Panyangara | not out | 4 | 4 | |
| Extras | (lb 5, w 4, nb 1) | 10 | ||
| Total | (7 wickets; 50 overs; 228 mins) | 268 | ||
| Mohammad Sami | 9 | 1 | 53 | 0 |
| Anwar Ali | 9 | 0 | 55 | 1 |
| Wahab Riaz | 10 | 0 | 55 | 2 |
| Yasir Shah | 10 | 0 | 40 | 2 |
| Mohammad Hafeez | 6 | 0 | 33 | 1 |
| Hammad Azam | 3 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| Shoaib Malik | 3 | 0 | 13 | 1 |
Pakistan decided to field in this one after winning the toss, but the Zimbabwe openers actually began the match rather well. Vusi Sibanda was clearly tasked with anchoring the innings, while Chibhabha had a little more license to play his shots.
The latter continued to play with intent after his fellow opener was dismissed in the 19th over for 13, and both Hamilton Masakadza (18) and Sean Williams (5) were unable to put their stamp on proceedings. Chibhabha deserved a century, but it wasn’t to be, caught behind off the bowling of Shoaib Malik in the 35th over for 99.
As noted here by Broken Cricket, he’s the first player from Zimbabwe to suffer this misfortune:
The man left at the crease was Raza. But he wasn’t daunted by the task of adding some initiative to a toiling chase, shifting the pressure back onto the Pakistan bowlers with an exceptional counterattacking knock.
Raza struck eight fours and three sixes in his superb innings, bringing up his century from 84 balls in the final over. As we can see courtesy of Cricket Record, his hundred was one of the fastest-ever scored by a Zimbabwe player in ODI matches:
He helped his side to 268 for seven, but after smashing a staggering 375 for three in their previous encounter, the hosts would have been confident of chasing that score down. In Ali, Pakistan have a player who can lead from the front superbly too.
| Azhar Ali* | c Williams b Mupariwa | 102 | 104 | |
| Sarfraz Ahmed† | lbw b Chibhabha | 22 | 28 | |
| Mohammad Hafeez | c Coventry b Cremer | 15 | 24 | |
| Asad Shafiq | c Sikandar Raza b Cremer | 39 | 59 | |
| Haris Sohail | not out | 52 | 49 | |
| Shoaib Malik | not out | 36 | 20 | |
| Extras | (lb 2, w 1) | 3 | ||
| Total | (4 wickets; 47.2 overs; 210 mins) | 269 | ||
| T Panyangara | 8.2 | 0 | 42 | 0 |
| T Mupariwa | 7 | 0 | 48 | 1 |
| BV Vitori | 8 | 0 | 52 | 0 |
| CJ Chibhabha | 2 | 0 | 10 | 1 |
| AG Cremer | 10 | 0 | 52 | 2 |
| SC Williams | 10 | 0 | 53 | 0 |
| H Masakadza | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Sikandar Raza | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
The opener showed brilliant composure despite the losses of key players like Sarfraz Ahmed (22) and Mohammad Hafeez (22), keeping the scoring rate ticking over and the home side well within reach of victory.
The captain went to his century in 39th over, drawing adulation aplenty from his teammates and supporters. It was an innings good enough to earn him the Man of the Match award in this game, as we can see here courtesy of the ICC Twitter feed:
Sohail also made a critical contribution of 52. When Ali was eventually dismissed, he continued where his captain had left off, hitting the winning runs in what was another impressive chase from this vibrant Pakistan team.
Naturally, Ali was delighted with his team’s effort in this game and the series as a whole, per ESPNcricinfo:
"Good performance from the team. Obviously you want to perform as captain. It's been fabulous in both the series. All the seniors have helped guide me, they have taught me to concentrate on my game and focus on the controllables.
Working on my batting, modern cricket has become fast and you need to keep pace with it and I hope with the grace of God, I can. Great effort from the boys, bowling was very good on a batting wicket to keep them to 268.
"
After a decent World Cup and some strong performances in this series, there seems to be a bright future ahead for Pakistani cricket.
This squad is really beginning to take shape under Ali’s tutelage, and they’ll be desperate to finish this round of fixtures with another win, building confidence prior to a trio of crucial Test matches against Sri Lanka next month.
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