Pakistan beat Zimbabwe by 15 runs to win the series 2-0

Umar Akmal was awarded Man-of-the-Match

Pakistan defeated Zimbabwe by 15 runs in the second Twenty20 match to win the two-match series by 2-0 at the Harare Sports Club in Harare. The home team’s combativeness faded away as the crafty Pakistani bowlers defended 136 again with relative ease.

Zimbabwe had come agonizingly close in quite a few of their encounters against top cricket teams throughout 2015 with only a victory each in T20Is and ODIs against India and New Zealand respectively, to show for their efforts.

Pakistan had come into this match, having never lost to Zimbabwe in T20 Internationals during all their previous 8 encounters. They had also won their previous 5 matches in the shortest format of cricket.

In the series opener in Harare, young all-rounder Imad Wasim’s sensational spell had helped Pakistan cross the line in a tense encounter that saw Zimbabwe falling short by a mere 13 runs. The star of the match today once again was the left-arm spinner Wasim.

The Welsh-born cricketer continued his fine bowling form with a tight spell of 1-14 from 4 overs. He was ably supported by Sohail Tanvir who choked the Zimbabwe batting unit with his incisive and wily seam bowling. They made sure that the blazing performance of Umar Akmal resulted in a victory.

Earlier, Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi won the toss and chose to bat first on the same sluggish surface which was used in the 1st T20I. While Pakistan brought in Mohammad Hafeez in place of Mukhtar Ahmed and the colossal Mohammad Irfan also made a comeback replacing speedster Wahab Riaz.

With the average first innings score in the ground appearing to decrease with each passing fixture, the visitors wanted to post a challenging total on board. But, Ahmed Shehzad continued his traditional blockathon interspersed with the occasional boundary which piled up the pressure on the remaining batsmen.

Soon, he was dismissed trying to slash a wide delivery from Panyangara. His opening partner, Hafeez too perished after a few delightful strokes when he clipped a fuller one straight into midwicket’s hands.

The rest of the batsmen shifted their focus towards rotating the strike and running hard between the wickets. But, as wickets fell regularly during the middle overs, they were unable to take risks in order to regularly find the boundaries.

While Sohaib Maqsood’s brief vigil at the crease lacked intent, Umar Akmal showed glimpses of his shotmaking ability in an enterprising 28-ball 38. A couple of lusty blows from Wasim ensured that Pakistan reached a competitive 136 which was exactly their score in the previous T20I.

Aside from the expensive Prosper Utseya, the other bowlers bowled with control and were complemented by a steady effort in the field.

Zimbabwe’s chase began rather shakily with the openers struggling to adapt to the guile and pace of the new-ball bowlers. A horrendous umpiring decision and a terrible mix-up did not help their cause as the top order capsized in the face of cumulative pressure.

With the hosts precariously placed at 24/4 from the first 6 overs, Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza got together. They stitched together a fighting partnership which eventually did not meet the rapidly escalating required run rate.

Raza struggled to time the ball properly and could only manage a run a ball 36. Despite a flurry of sixes from Chigumbura, Zimbabwe faltered to mount a decisive challenge.

Pakistan would look to continue their dominance in the 3 match ODI series starting from Thursday. On the other hand, Zimbabwe will be keen to bounce back and restore their competitive spirit in all the ODIs which will be played in Harare.