Published: Sep 29, 2015, 12:11 AM (IST)
Edited: Sep 29, 2015, 12:11 AM (IST)
Zimbabwe batsman Sikandar Raza suffered a low score in the first Twenty20 International (T20I) against Pakistan at the Harare Sports Club in Harare on Sunday. The right-handed No.3 batsman was dismissed for a score of 13 off 10 balls, with the hosts ultimately collapsing to a 13-run defeat while chasing the relatively moderate target of 137. Raza, however, cannot be written off at any cost either by the Zimbabwean team management or by the Pakistanis, for he has two centuries to his credit in the recently-concluded summer, including one against the same opposition on their own turf earlier this year. That was shortly followed by another against ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 runners-up New Zealand, this time on home soil.
Pakistan had completed a 2-0 sweep of the T20I series, before getting off to a winning start in the three-ODI series, all the matches of which along with that of the 20-over games were being held at Lahore. Zimbabwe were off to a good start in their innings, with Chamu Chibhabha (99) adding 83 for the opening wicket with Vusi Sibanda (13). While he was eventually dismissed one run short of a century, Raza kept the party going for the Zimbabweans, scoring at a rate of over 100 during his stay at the crease and getting boundaries with ease every now and then.
The moment of joy finally arrived in the 50th over, when Raza reached his second ODI hundred with just two balls to spare in the innings. The knock however, would eventually go in vain as Pakistan pulled off a comfortable chase of the 269-run target, thanks of another brilliant century, this time by Azhar Ali.
