BULAWAYO: Zimbabwe grab­bed a consolation two-wicket victory over Pakistan in a thrilling final Twenty20 International on Thursday, with tailender Richard Ngarava getting them over the line with one ball to spare.

Pakistan, seeking a series sweep after winning the first two matches by 57 runs and 10 wickets respectively, rested several key players and made 132-7 off 20 overs in Bulawayo.

Zimbabwe responded strongly initially with opener Brian Bennett scoring 43, but the Pakistan bowlers hit back and the loss of home captain Sikandar Raza (19) spelt trouble.

Needing 12 runs from the last over for victory, Tinotenda Maposa struck a four, a six and a single to level the scores with three balls remaining.

Tashinga Musekiwa was caught by Tayyab Tahir off the bowling of Jahandad Khan to increase the tension at the Queens Sports Club.

Ngarava then became the hero, striking the penultimate ball back towards Khan. It hit the stumps at the non-striker’s end and deflected to mid-off for the winning run as Zimbabwe reached 133-8.

Top scorer Bennett said: “We ha­ve got Afghanistan from next week in all formats so it is nice to win and establish some momentum.”

“I’m happy to bat wherever coach and captain wants. We are a young team as well so we are always learning on the game. Today it’s a good feeling and to finish off with a victory is very good.”

Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha reserved special praise for batter Saim Ayub and wrist spinner Sufiyan Muqeem after the two white-ball series victories.

“I think Saim and Sufiyan have long futures ahead and will serve Pakistan for many years,” he said. “Saim has been playing all three formats and doing really well. And Sufiyan; he came in Australia, did really well against them and here, he is man of the series; it’s outstanding — they both have a long future.”

Bennett hit a six and six fours in his knock as he took Zimbabwe to 73-2 before wickets started to fall regularly.

Salman was the leading Pakis­tan scorer with 32 that included three fours while Blessing Muzarabani took two wickets.

Pakistan, who also beat Zimbabwe 2-1 in a ODI series, now head to South Africa for an eight-match all-formats tour that starts on Dec 10 with a T20I.

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN:

Sahibzada Farhan c Musekiwa b Masakadza 4
Omair Bin Yousuf c Ngarava b Muzarabani 0
Usman Khan c Myers b Muzarabani 5
Salman Ali Agha run out 32
Tayyab Tahir c Marumani b Maposa 21
Qasim Akram c Myers b Burl 20
Arafat Minhas not out 22
Abbas Afridi c Madhevere b Ngarava 15
Jahandad Khan not out 6

EXTRAS (B-1, LB-2, NB-1, W-3) 7
TOTAL (for seven wickets, 20 overs) 132
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-4 (Omair), 2-9 (Farhan), 3-19 (Usman), 4-52 (Tayyab), 5-82 (Qasim), 6-92 (Salman), 7-119 (Afridi)
DID NOT BAT: Mohammad Hasnain, Sufiyan Muqeem
BOWLING: Masakadza 4-0-24-1, Muzarabani 4-0-25-2 (1w), Ngarava 3-0-27-1 (1w, 1nb), Raza 4-0-24-0 (1w), Maposa 1-0-12-1, Burl 3-0-15-1, Bennett 1-0-2-0

ZIMBABWE:

B. Bennett c Tayyab b Sufiyan 43
T. Marumani c Farhan b Salman 15
D. Myers c Arafat b Abbas 13
S. Raza c Omair b Jahandad 19
W. Madhevere b Abbas 7
R. Burl run out Farhan 6
T. Musekiwa c Tayyab b Jahandad 7
W. Masakadza lbw Abbas 6
T. Maposa not out 12
R. Ngarava not out 1

EXTRAS (W-4) 4
TOTAL (for eight wickets, 19.5 overs) 133
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-40 (Marumani), 2-73 (Bennett), 3-75 (Myers), 4-85 (Madhevere), 5-94 (Burl), 6-112 (Sikandar), 7-120 (Masakadza), 8-132 (Musekiwa)

DID NOT BAT: B. Muzarabani
BOWLING: Hasnain 2-0-24-0 (2w), Jahandad 2.5-0-30-2, Salman 3-0-19-1, Arafat 4-0-17-0, Sufiyan 4-1-19-1, Abbas 4-0-24-3 (2w)
RESULT: Zimbabwe won by two wickets.
SERIES: Pakistan won the three-match series 2-1.

Published in Dawn, December 6th, 2024