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Player of the Match
Player of the Match

Shaheen Afridi and Nauman Ali five-fors wrap up Pakistan's 2-0 sweep

Brendan Taylor walks back in disbelief as Pakistan celebrate Zimbabwe Cricket

Pakistan 510 for 8 dec (Abid 215*, Azhar 126, Nauman 97, Muzarabani 3-82) beat Zimbabwe 132 (Chakabva 33, Hasan 5-27) and 231 (Chakabva 80, Shaheen 5-52, Nauman 5-86) by an innings and 147 runs

It took exactly five overs on the fourth day for Pakistan to take the solitary wicket they needed to complete a 2-0 clean sweep over Zimbabwe, bowling them out for 231 and winning by an innings and 147 runs. Shaheen Afridi was the man to make the breakthrough, coaxing Luke Jongwe into a drive the batsman could only edge through to the wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan.

It saw him complete a five-wicket haul, becoming the third Pakistan bowler in the Test to do so after Hasan Ali and Nauman Ali. This is the first time in Pakistan history three bowlers have taken five wickets in a single Test, and just the sixth time overall. Despite the bowling heroics, it was Abid Ali who scooped up the Player of the Match award for his first double-century.

The day began with Jongwe looking to farm the strike, ensuring he faced Afridi while Muzarabani was left to negotiate the less menacing Tabish Khan. The pair looked largely comfortable with this arrangement, but with Zimbabwe having little hope in the wider context of the game, it was only a matter of time before the breakthrough would arrive. Pakistan will fly home content with the way they came back in the Test series after the indifferent T20I leg.

Zimbabwe, meanwhile, will rue their performances in two rare Tests against high-quality opposition, and gear up again for a series against Bangladesh later this year.

Zimbabwe 3rd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st13KT KasuzaTK Musakanda
2nd50RW ChakabvaKT Kasuza
3rd79BRM TaylorRW Chakabva
4th28RW ChakabvaM Shumba
5th18LM JongweM Shumba
6th8DT TiripanoLM Jongwe
7th0R KaiaLM Jongwe
8th9TS ChisoroLM Jongwe
9th0LM JongweR Ngarava
10th26LM JongweB Muzarabani