Scorer: Gopi Rangarajan | Commentator: Alagappan Muthu
Zimbabwe began well with Masakadza and Sibanda posting a fifty-run partnership. But when Pakistan's spinners came on and pace was denied on the ball, Zimbabwe resorted to the sweep a little too much. Brendan Taylor looked to hold one end up, but he was always chasing the run-rate as wickets fell around him. Afridi proved his worth with the ball again, picking up three important wickets, two of them in the same over to all but seal the game for Pakistan. In the end Zimbabwe were 25 runs short. Stay with us for the presentation.
Amit: "Taylor coming one down and facing only 26 balls has effected a lot to the team. He should have faced a lot of balls to win the match."
Anurag: "I am not sure why Zim sent Chigumbura after Maruma
ZCFOutkast: "Flipping our batting order wouldn't have been a bad idea. A few lusty blows from Shing&Vitori would've gotten us going early on!
Shahid Afridi collects the Player of the Match for his 23 off 16 balls and his 3 for 25
Ahmed Shehzad picks up the Man-of-the-Match cheque for his 70 off 50 balls and said, "It was doing a little bit early on, thats why Zimbabwe picked up those early wickets. But the ball came on a little easier as the game got on and we were looking to lay a good foundation because we knew we had a big hitter like Shahid Afridi in the line-up and with our bowling we knew we could defend our total"
Mohammad Hafeez said he was happy with the win, considering it was the start of a new series but was quick to say it was already in the past and the boys had to look at the next game which will decide the series. He also shared team-mate Shehzad's confidence that his bowling would be able to defend a 150+ total and added that the team had also fielded very well.
Brian Vitori said the team stuck to their plans well, but against world-class spinners like Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal, they were found out. He added that Zimbabwe had conceded a few too many extras, which probably "killed it" for them with the ball, but they were comfortable with the target they had Pakistan had put up. He said Zimabwe needed to learn quickly and that was part of playing international cricket and believed they can improve in the nex game. So that's all wrapped up. Join us again tomorrow for the second T20 same time, same place. This is Alagappan Muthu saying goodnight for now.
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