Pakistan down Zimbabwe by six wickets in first T20I

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Pakistan cruised to a comfortable six-wicket victory against Zimbabwe in the first Twenty20 International (T20I) at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi after a superb knock from captain Babar Azam.

Chasing a target of 157 runs, opener Fakhar Zaman (19) fell early after a promising start miscuing a slog off bowler Blessing Muzarabani to deliver a simple catch to fielder Elton Chigumbura.

Batsman Haider Ali (7) got a tricky ball which was edged behind to wicketkeeper- Brendan Taylor off the bowling off Richard Ngarava.

Veteran all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez joined the in-form Babar Azam for an 80-run partnership which put Pakistan on top.

Azam finally fell to Tendai Chatara, while trying to up the ante at the ending stages of the chase, after scoring 82 runs off just 55 deliveries.

Hafeez soon followed suit, being bowled by Muzarabani, after scoring a reliable 36-run knock off 32 deliveries.

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Batsmen Khushdil Shah and Mohammad Rizwan then guided Pakistan over the finishing line with seven deliveries to spare.

Muzarabani was the pick of the bowlers for Zimbabwe after picking up two wickets for 26 runs in 3.5 overs.

Earlier, Zimbabwe’s captain Chamu Chibhabha won the toss and elected to bat first. The skipper departed for a duck after Pakistan’s in-form fast-bowler Mohammad Hasnain caught the opener Leg-Before Wicket (LBW) in the first over of the match.

Veteran batsman Brendan Taylor got off to a good start before being removed by fast-bowler Haris Rauf (caught by fielder Haider Ali) after scoring 20 runs off 13 balls.

Leg-spinner Usman Qadir had an impressive debut as he bowled the in-form Sean Williams after the latter had played a cautious knock of 25 runs off 24 balls.

Batsmen Sikandar Raza (7) and Ryan Burl (8) fell to fast-bowlers Wahab Riaz and Haris Rauf respectively without getting into double figures.

Batsman Wesley Madhevere however was the rock of Zimbabwe’s innings as wickets fell on the other end. The batsman remained unbeaten after scoring an impeccable knock of 70 runs off 48 deliveries.

Elton Chigumbura joined Madhevere to provide some impetus to Zimbabwe’s innings by playing a cameo of 21 runs off 13 deliveries before falling in the last ball of the innings to Wahab Riaz.

Zimbabwe were able to make 156 runs for the loss of six wickets at the end of their allotted overs which proved to be an insufficient total in the end.

Haris Rauf was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan after picking up two wickets in four overs at the expense of 25 runs.

Babar Azam was adjudged the man-of-the-match for his incredible knock with the bat.