Pakistan stunned by Zimbabwe in first ODI

Coming off a disappointing T20 series, where Zimbabwe failed to figure out how to close out a chase, they held their composure and applied themselves better despite the short turnaround time.

A strong opening stand of 107 between Vusi Sibanda and Hamilton Masakadza was the bedrock in their chase of 245. Having dealt with the seamers with ease during the T20s, Zimbabwe’s chances of victory hung on how they would perform outside their comfort zone. They looked ill at ease against the spin trio in the T20s but crucially, this time, they didn’t let the spinners run away with the advantage. Saeed Ajmal managed to strike, but the long interval between breakthroughs meant that Pakistan were always playing catch-up. In the closing stages, Pakistan had created enough pressure to bring the equation down to a run-a-ball, but a combination of poor fielding and freakish luck meant that it was Zimbabwe’s day.

Earlier, Pakistan’s innings was a story of three parts. They found runs hard to come by at the start due to steady seam bowling, recovered in the middle thanks to Mohammad Hafeez’s brisk half-century, and stumbled towards the end, failing to accelerate due to the pressure caused by the sudden fall of wickets. What prevented them from suffering a complete meltdown was Misbah-ul-Haq, who carried on his good form from the West Indies with his fourth consecutive fifty.

It was a mixed day for Zimbabwe in the field. A series of drops at the start showed that the team had hardly made any progress on that front since the India tour. While the Pakistan openers failed to capitalise on those let-offs, the drop that really cost Zimbabwe was Mohammad Hafeez’s, when on 10. He went on to score 70, putting Pakistan on course for a competitive total. The pace of his innings was crucial, with Misbah not deviating from his tried and tested conservative approach in the middle overs.

With play beginning half an hour later than the scheduled start time for the India ODIs that preceded this tour, the conditions were expected to favour the batsmen more. Instead, the seamers dictated terms, beating the bat on several occasions, especially against Nasir Jamshed. Having gone six innings without a fifty – including the T20s – Jamshed was under pressure to score, and his innings could have ended on 5 had Vusi Sibanda held a sitter at second slip.

Shehzad’s was the wicket Zimbabwe needed more desperately, having conceded two half-centuries to him – including a 98 – in the T20s. Tinashe Panyangara was the unlucky bowler yet again when Shehzad, on 15, spooned a drive straight to extra cover, where Sean Williams dropped a straightforward chance. Ironically, Panyangara later went from playing victim to culprit when he palmed a six over long-off, having come forward a few yards to catch Hafeez on the boundary.