Player of the Match
Player of the Match

Right, so that's all from our coverage of the first T20I. Thank you so much for sticking around with Peter and me, and we'll see you again in two days time.

Babar Azam isn't exactly overjoyed. "Wasn't a convincing win," he says. "The batsmen aren't performing, but we will try and come back in the second game. When you come to these wickets after bouncy wickets, you need to adjust. If someone hung around with Rizwan, we could have put on a bigger total."

Mohammad Rizwan's unbeaten 82 gets him the Player of the match award, not surprisingly. Carried his bat once more. "They won the toss and used the pitch well. The wickets here are different, the pitch keeps low. But Babar and I have this plan where if one fails the other tries to go deep. It's working for now. In Zimbabwe, the ball doesn't quite come on to the bat, but once Hafeez fell, my aim was to get us to 150."

Sean Williams says it's "inexcusable" the number of catches Zimbabwe dropped, especially against a side like Pakistan. Says he wanted to keep Pakistan to 130, and felt that was the par total. "I feel that second partnership to accompany that third wicket partnership was missing," he says. "The wicket played into our favour and winning the toss was crucial. Inexcusable to lose a game like that"

This game's the kind Zimbabwe lose a bit too frequently, unfortunately. They fail to put struggling teams away, and Pakistan were there for putting away several times in that first innings. At the end, the 12 wides bowled, and the sloppiness in the field came back to cost them, and the frenetic nature of the chase when it should have been a cakewalk didn't quite work in the end.

Talha Nawaz: "Pakistan has defended total of under 150 thrice against ZIM and ZIM made 137, 137 and 138 this time too close"

Shariq : "Strange obsession of Masakadza's to new Zealand, hamilton and Wellington " Never really thought about that but yeah. I hear there are 14 brothers, so they could have covered all of New Zealand pretty decently if they'd been so inclined

END OF OVER:
20 | 8 Runs | ZIM: 138/7 (12 runs required, RR: 6.90)

  • Wellington Masakadza2 (4b)
  • Luke Jongwe30 (23b)
  • Haris Rauf4-0-29-1
  • Mohammad Hasnain4-0-27-2
19.6
1
Haris Rauf to Masakadza, 1 run, sliced through the offside, and that's a somewhat tame end to a T20I that hung in the balance for a long, long time. Pakistan win by 11 runs
19.5
1
Haris Rauf to Jongwe, 1 run, another yorker, only just dug out for a single
19.4
1
Haris Rauf to Masakadza, 1 run, oddly enough, chooses to take the single instead of going for a slog, which means Jongwe needs to get 14 off 2
19.3
1
Haris Rauf to Jongwe, 1 run, there's no coming back for two on this occasion. Bat-pad from Jongwe, and Masakadza is on strike. That may finally be that for the hosts
19.2
2
Haris Rauf to Jongwe, 2 runs, driven to long-on and they absolutely set off for two once more. Throw goes to the wrong end, and remember Zimbabwe are still ahead of Pakistan at this stage
19.1
2
Haris Rauf to Jongwe, 2 runs, squeezed into the onside, Jongwe's desperate to come back for two, and he does. He needs to face all remaining deliveries, much like Rizwan did

Jassia Zafar: "Would you please tell me the speed (kph) of that yorker from Haris Rauf?" Don't think the scoreboard carried it. If it did, I didn't catch it, unfortunately

END OF OVER:
19 | 8 Runs | ZIM: 130/7 (20 runs required from 6 balls, RR: 6.84, RRR: 20.00)

  • Wellington Masakadza0 (2b)
  • Luke Jongwe24 (19b)
  • Mohammad Hasnain4-0-27-2
  • Haris Rauf3-0-21-1
18.6
0
Mohammad Hasnain to Masakadza, no run, another swing and a miss, and Zimbabwe need 20 off the last over

Adil: "Last over of ZIM is hurting them now." Looks like that will be the difference between the two

18.5
0
Mohammad Hasnain to Masakadza, no run,

Adil: "Last over of ZIM is hurting them now." Looks like that will be the difference between the two

18.4
1
Mohammad Hasnain to Jongwe, 1 run, sliced to third man, where Haris Rauf had the simplest catch. But he shells it, and Zimbabwe are still alive in this contest
18.3
6
Mohammad Hasnain to Jongwe, SIX, slower ball, but he was lying in wait for that one. Holds his shape and clobbers him over long-off, and it goes all the way
18.2
0
Mohammad Hasnain to Jongwe, no run, this one's banged in short and beats him with the extra bounce. Jongwe's annoyed at himself for missing out on that
18.2
1w
Mohammad Hasnain to Jongwe, 1 wide, this time he goes a touch too wide as Jongwe's slog doesn't connect
18.1
0
Mohammad Hasnain to Jongwe, no run, gave himself room, but Hasnain saw him early and maintains a line wide outsode off, well outside the batsman's reach

END OF OVER:
18 | 9 Runs 1 Wkt | ZIM: 122/7 (28 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 6.77, RRR: 14.00)

  • Luke Jongwe17 (15b)
  • Haris Rauf3-0-21-1
  • Mohammad Hasnain3-0-19-2
17.6
W
Haris Rauf to Burl, OUT, what a delivery that is! Simply glorious. Almost no words to describe the sheer perfection of that yorker, at pace. Burl ends his innings on his knees as the ball takes out off stump. Really, Waqar Younis would have been proud of that

RP Burl b Haris Rauf 14 (32m 13b 0x4 1x6) SR: 107.69

17.5
1
Haris Rauf to Jongwe, 1 run, waist high full toss that Jongwe can't quite time. Just a single down to long-on
17.4
0
Haris Rauf to Jongwe, no run, lovely slower ball, beat him all ends up. Jongwe was well through his shot before the ball had even pitched
17.3
0
Haris Rauf to Jongwe, no run, banged it in short. Jongwe looked to help it over the keeper, but this time the connection's lacking, and he's beaten
17.2
4
Haris Rauf to Jongwe, FOUR, another four! This time he opens his body up and clatters him over extra cover for a one bounce boundary!. This game is far from over
17.1
4
Haris Rauf to Jongwe, FOUR, Jongwe goes across and paddles it over fine leg once more. Nearly carried all the way, that! Haris persisted with pace on, and all he did was use it as he helped it to the boundary

Zain: "Pakistan will take the game into last over."

Haris into the attack now

END OF OVER:
17 | 11 Runs | ZIM: 113/6 (37 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 6.64, RRR: 12.33)

  • Ryan Burl14 (12b)
  • Luke Jongwe8 (10b)
  • Mohammad Hasnain3-0-19-2
  • Usman Qadir4-0-29-3
16.6
6
Mohammad Hasnain to Burl, SIX, helped over fine leg, and that's gone all the way for six! Now then! Drifting down legside and Burl adroitly picked it up, and made sure it sailed over the ropes. 12 off that Hasnain over

Izaz: "Babar decision to persist with the spinners seems quite prescient right now"

16.5
0
Mohammad Hasnain to Burl, no run, short of a length, with Burl only able to block
16.4
1
Mohammad Hasnain to Jongwe, 1 run, bangs it in on a good length. Front leg out of the way and another clobber, from Jongwe, but this time the timing is lacking

Pakistan tour of Zimbabwe 2021 News

Zimbabwe 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st21TS KamunhukamweW Madhevere
2nd0TS KamunhukamweT Marumani
3rd56CR ErvineTS Kamunhukamwe
4th2CR ErvineRP Burl
5th12SC WilliamsRP Burl
6th4RW ChakabvaRP Burl
7th27RP BurlLM Jongwe
8th16LM JongweWP Masakadza