There was a pitched battle at Lord’s but at the Gaddafi Stadium, yearning hearts were won over once again in a thrilling contest. Pakistan beat Zimbabwe by two wickets with two balls to spare, in another last-over finish, to clinch the T20 series 2-0 and, like Friday, the occasion got bigger than the game.
The unheralded batting talent of Bilawal Bhatti came to the fore with Pakistan needing 12 off the final over. He first smote Brian Vitori for a straight six and, after picking up two, carved the bowler through the covers for the winning runs.
Zimbabwe will feel hard done by with the result as they fought tooth and nail with patches of excellent batting and fielding. However, the home side edged the game at the right moments – like the last two overs of the Zimbabwe innings or Shoaib Malik’s tight four overs which kept Zimbabwe’s score down to 175 for 3. Mukhtar Ahmed’s second successive fifty was also important, while the Lahore crowd kept Pakistan, in the game with their noise.
Chasing 176, Pakistan lost their first wicket in the fifth over when Ahmed Shehzad chopped the ball to mid-off for Vusi Sibanda’s first of three catches. Shehzad and Mukhtar Ahmed had added 44 runs, but it was nothing like their dominating 142-run stand in the previous game.
Mukhtar, however, continued to bat confidently, finding boundaries regularly even as debutant Nauman Anwar and Shoaib Malik fell to a catch at long-on and a run-out, respectively. Mukhtar hit boundaries through point, third-man and fine-leg in the second over before an onslaught against Graeme Cremer in the eighth over, in which the legspinner conceded 19 runs.
He reached 50 off 33 balls but in the 14th over, holed out to long-on off Sikandar Raza’s bowling, with Pakistan needing a further 59 runs off 39 balls.
Shahid Afridi entered with usual fanfare but lasted just three balls before skying Williams for a catch near mid-off. Raza fumbled for a moment but did not let go of the chance.
Zimbabwe kept picking up wickets, even as Pakistan batsmen kept themselves within touching distance of the required run-rate. Umar Akmal was leg-before to Chris Mpofu before Anwar Ali was yorked by Willams in the 17th and 18th overs respectively. Mohammad Rizwan, playing in place of Sarfraz Ahmed, holed out to a great running catch by Raza when Pakistan needed 15 off 11 balls.
Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif congratulated the team for sweeping the series and thanked the visiting team Zimbabwe for not paying heed to rumours and taking the step to visit Pakistan.
Zimbabwe
V Sibanda c Anwar Ali b Shahid Afridi 49
H Masakadza c Anwar Ali b Shoaib Malik 39
SC Williams not out 58
E Chigumbura c Ahmed Shehzad b Mohammad Sami 21
CK Coventry† not out 2
Extras (lb 2, w 2, nb 2) 6
Total (3 wickets; 20 overs) 175
Did not batSikandar Raza, AG Cremer, CJ Chibhabha, CB Mpofu, BV Vitori, P Utseya
Fall of wickets 1-68 (Masakadza, 8.3 ov), 2-136 (Sibanda, 16.4 ov), 3-168 (Chigumbura, 19.1 ov)
Bowling
Anwar Ali 3-0-31-0, Mohammad Sami 4-0-38-1, Bilawal Bhatti 3-0-31-0, Imad Wasim 2-0-14-0, Shahid Afridi 4-0-36-1, Shoaib Malik 4-0-23-1
Pakistan
Ahmed Shehzad c Sibanda b Vitori 18
Mukhtar Ahmed c Sibanda b Sikandar Raza 62
Nauman Anwar c Sibanda b Utseya 18
Shoaib Malik run out (Utseya) 7
Umar Akmal lbw b Mpofu 30
Shahid Afridi* c Sikandar Raza b Williams 7
Mohammad Rizwan† c Sikandar Raza b Mpofu 6
Anwar Ali b Williams 2
Imad Wasim not out 4
Bilawal Bhatti not out 13
Extras (b 2, lb 4, w 3) 9
Total (8 wickets; 19.4 overs) 176
Did not batMohammad Sami
Fall of wickets 1-44 (Ahmed Shehzad, 4.5 ov), 2-81 (Nauman Anwar, 8.3 ov), 3-95 (Shoaib Malik, 10.4 ov), 4-117 (Mukhtar Ahmed, 13.3 ov), 5-130 (Shahid Afridi, 14.2 ov), 6-152 (Umar Akmal, 16.5 ov), 7-155 (Anwar Ali, 17.3 ov), 8-161 (Mohammad Rizwan, 18.2 ov)
Bowling
CB Mpofu 4-0-25-2, BV Vitori 3.4-0-36-1, SC Williams 4-0-32-2, P Utseya 4-0-31-1, AG Cremer 2-0-27-0, Sikandar Raza 2-0-19-1
MATCH DETAILS
Toss – Zimbabwe, who chose to bat
Series – Pakistan won the 2-match series 2-0
T20I debuts – Imad Wasim and Nauman Anwar (Pakistan)
Player of the match – tba
Umpires – Ahmed Shahab and Ahsan Raza
TV umpire – Shozab Raza
Match referee – Azhar Khan
Reserve umpire – Khalid Mahmood