Scorer: Gopi Rangarajan | Commentator: Vishal Dikshit
So a win for Pakistan keeps this bilateral series alive. Who would have thought the score would be 1-1 after the first two ODIs? We'll be back on Saturday with the series decider. Keep reading and join us again, this is Vishal Dikshit bidding goodbye on behalf of Abhishek Purohit and the scorers Binoy George and Gopi Rangarajan. Goodbye and good luck!
Time for the presentation:
Brendan Taylor: "The wicket played better than we thought it would. Their batsmen played very well and ran away with it. It was all about wickets in hand, we had a chance but they came back strong as expected. We had the momentum and self-belief from the last game. There are areas to improve on. The first game did us wonders but we'll have to produce something good and rectify a few things now."
Mohammad Hafeez is the Man of the Match: "I'm really happy scoring runs at crucial stages for my team. We knew that it was tough to bat first, they bowled in the right areas in the first 20 overs. Umar Amin's partnership with me was good and then Shahid Afridi blasted some runs which gave us a good score. We were actually looking for a score around 260, not 300. Amin showed confidence and I was backing him as a senior, I just told him to play straight. We wanted to win this game and the boys showed great commitment. The pitched changed a little bit later and our bowlers did a great job."
Misbah: "The conditions are not easy to read. This pitch looks greener but it played better in the second innings, it played ok in the first innings also. Amin played very well and Afridi finished it very well. Conditions here improve in the second innings so 299 was a good score for our bowlers. The Zimbabwe batsmen were playing sensibly, so that was something to worry about. I was only looking for a wicket and once Tayor got out, there was huge pressure on them to score over 10-per-over. We hope to put a good show on Saturday and we really need to improve in the next game."
Awais: "198/4 and 209/10...that truly is Pakistani comeback..."
A convincing, 90-run win for Pakistan after a shock defeat two days ago. They weren't in the driver's seat throughout the match but Hafeez's hundred and tight bowling from Junaid Khan and Abdur Rehman kept the hosts under pressure. Brendan Taylor kept Zimbabwe in the hunt with his 79 but once he fell, the chase was virtually over. They handled the other three spinners very well but 300 proved to be to steep
BV Vitori c Mohammad Irfan b Abdur Rehman 0 (1m 1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00
TL Chatara c †Sarfaraz Ahmed b Abdur Rehman 2 (4m 4b 0x4 0x6) SR: 50.00
Many openers from the subcontinent have struggled overseas, but Mohammad Hafeez's stats are among the poorest
The coach's tenure has coincided with a slump in the team's fortunes. The board needs to think about the 2015 World Cup and appoint someone else now
After a magical win, Zimbabwe will disappear from the international stage for at least five months and won't play a Test for double that time. So what next?
We can talk about Misbah and Hafeez, propose new stars and offer retirement to others, but we all know the game isn't cricket - it is the politics of self-interest and greed
Acquiring the services of a bowling coach will be one of Zimbabwe's top priorities as they look to build for future international series
