Pakistan overcame a top-order collapse to edge out spirited Zimbabwe by five wickets in the opener of a T20I Tri-Series on Tuesday. Zimbabwe, who have qualified for next year’s T20 World Cup, put up a good show with the ball before Pakistan reached 151-5 in the final over as Fakhar Zaman returned to the format with a top score of 44 off 32 balls.
Zimbabwe ruined a rollicking start and got restricted to 147-8 with spinners Mohammad Nawaz (2-22), Abrar Ahmed (1-28) and Saim Ayub (1-31) squeezing the visitors in the second half of the innings.
“It was a close game,” Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha said. “Our spinners have been doing well for the last 4-5 months and they’re the ones that put us back in the game.”
Fast bowler Brad Evans (2-26) picked up two wickets in one over and Tinotenda Maposa had Agha LBW of a perfect yorker as Pakistan slipped to 30-3 inside the batting power play and gave Zimbabwe a glimmer of hope.
Evans rattled the stumps of Sahibzada Farhan (16) off a delivery that skidded into the right-hander and then had Babar Azam trapped LBW for a three-ball duck as Pakistan lost three wickets for three runs.
Spin all-rounder Graeme Cremer, who returned after missing the home T20I series against Afghanistan, then had Ayub (22) caught at deep mid-wicket as Pakistan slipped further to 54-4 in the 10th over.
But Zaman and wicketkeeper-batter Usman Khan (37 not out) added 61 runs and put the chase back on track before Richard Ngarava (1-30) had Zaman caught behind when the left-hander tried a ramp shot but couldn’t get any elevation.
With 15 needed of the final 10 balls, Zimbabwe missed an opportunity when Brian Bennett dropped a sitter of Nawaz at deep mid-wicket, before the left-hander sealed the game with two successive boundaries in the final over of Maposa to give Pakistan a winning start in the tournament.
Bennett (49), who scored three half-centuries and a century during Zimbabwe's qualification for the T20 World Cup, and Tadiwanashe Marumani (30) provided a blazing start of 59-0 in the power play as both batters showed plenty of aggression against pace and off-spin of Ayub, whose first over went for 17.
But the introduction of Nawaz slowed Zimbabwe's progress when Marumani missed out on a full toss and holed out in the outfield in the 8th over.
Brendan Taylor made run-a-ball 14 but couldn’t beat Babar's strong throw and was run-out while attempting a second run. Bennett, who smashed eight fours, offered a tame return catch to Ayub in the 13th over.
Zimbabwe, which cruised to 88-1 in 10 overs, couldn’t get any momentum and lost wickets to spinners with regular intervals and only skipper Sikander Raza showed some late aggression by scoring unbeaten 34 off 24 balls that included a six off Shaheen Shah Afridi (1-34) in the last over.
“There’s more positives than negatives,” Raza said. “We’re getting to a stage where the fight has always been there, but we must learn how to cross the line. That has been the last hurdle and I’d like to see us crossing the line more often.”
Sri Lanka is the third team in the tournament and will take on Zimbabwe in the next game on Thursday.
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