Published: May 30, 2015, 12:26 AM (IST)
Edited: May 30, 2015, 03:06 AM (IST)
Pakistan have chased down Zimbabwe‘s 268 for 7 with relative ease despite the loss of a few wickets from time to time, during the second One-Day International (ODI) at Lahore. Zimbabwe gave themselves opportunities to win the game on a few occasions and had it not been for Azhar Ali‘s hundred, things could have been different. So in the process Pakistan have secured the three-match series with one match yet to go. LIVE UPDATES: Pakistan vs Zimbabwe 2015, 2nd ODI at Lahore
Pakistan’s innings started quite well with Azhar and Sarfaraz Ahmed posting 46 runs together for the first wicket before Chamu Chibhabha got Sarfaraz dismissed lbw for 22 runs. Mohammad Hafeez was the next batsman, but he didn’t make much of an impact, being dismissed for 15 off 24 balls by Graeme Cremer. Live Scorecard: Pakistan vs Zimbabwe 2015, 2nd ODI at Lahore
Cremer bowled quite well and was later awarded with the wicket of Asad Shafiq, with Pakistan still requiring over a hundred runs for victory. The asking rate was steadily increasing at this point but Pakistan were still in the safe zone to a large extent. His wicket saw the arrival of in form Haris Sohail at the crease.
By the time Zimbabwe got rid of Azhar for 102, it was probably too late as victory was by then in sight of Pakistan. Shoaib Malik, the centurion from the previous match, diffused the tension by scoring freely and snatching any ray of hope from the Zimbabweans. He scored runs at a strike rate of about 170.
Zimbabwe were again hurt badly by the lack of a genuine pacer in their ranks. The likes of Tinashe Panyangara and Brian Vitori were simply too slow cause too much trouble to the established batsmen. In the end Sohail scored a fifty, and Shoaib Malik’s 20-ball 36 saw Pakistan home in the 48th over with three wickets to spare.
Zimbabwe has been restricted to a score of 268 for seven in their quota of 50 overs by Pakistan in the second One-Day International (ODI) at Lahore, despite big innings by Chamu Chibhabha and Sikandar Raza. In the previous match Pakistan scored 375 on the same track, hence chasing this down shouldn’t pose too much of a problem for the home side.
Chibhabha was dismissed one short off what could have been his maiden ODI century. He scored 99 runs at almost a run a ball before edging behind off Shoaib Malik’s bowling. Raza however went on to score an unbeaten 84-ball 100.
However, even though Chibhabha was very confident at the crease, it failed to rub off on the other batsmen he played alongside including Vusi Sibanda, Hamilton Masakadza and Sean Williams. Sibanda in particular had a torrid time during his stay off 47 balls at the crease which yielded just 13 runs.
To his credit, Yasir Shah bowled cleverly to get rid of Masakadza and Williams and he received adequate support from Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez in the spin department. The pitch, however, did not have much to offer for the fast bowlers. But even though, there was nothing for the fast bowlers in the pitch, they did well in the death overs by making good use of pace variations.
When Chamu Chibhabha was dismissed, it looked unlikely that Zimbabwe would even get past 250 considering how badly the other batsmen had performed but Sikandar Raza had other plans. He helped Zimbabwe get to a respectable total by scoring a 84-ball hundred.
Given their performances in the first match, the Pakistani batting should have little trouble in chasing the total. Moreover, Zimbabwe lacks any bowler of genuine pace that can cause some trouble. Pakistan will not want to goof this up as victory will secure the series for them.
Brief scores:
Zimbabwe 268 for 7 in 50 overs (Chamu Chibhabha 99, Sikandar Raza 100*; Yasir Shah 2 for 40) lost to Pakistan 269 for 4 in 47.2 overs (Azhar Ali 102, Haris Sohail 52*; Graeme Cremer 2 for 52) by six wickets.
Man of the match: Azhar Ali
