1st T20I: Subdued Pakistan somehow manage to beat Zimbabwe by 11 runs

Pakistan have defeated Zimbabwe by 11 runs in the 1st T20I in Harare. Live score and commentary for the match appeared in this thread. 

Story of the match: On what was a difficult wicket to bat on, Pakistan had the first go and suffered a bad start. The wickets kept on tumbling, with only Mohammad Rizwan stick around, and that too, because he was dropped by the generous Zimbabwean fielders.

In reply, Zimbabwe had a decent start and were the favourites at the halfway mark when Kamunhukamwe and Ervine, both set batsmen, threw away their wickets in the span of three balls. It was all downhill for Zimbabwe from that point as Pakistani bowlers, especially Usman Qadir, took over and helped their side secure a slim win.

138-7 after 20 overs: End of match. Pakistan win

Wellington Masakadza 2 (4) Luke Jongwe 30 (23)

130-7 after 19 overs: A six off the over but not much else.

122-7 after 18 overs: Jongwe starts the over with back-to-back boundaries that give Zimbabwe a glimmer of hope. But Haris Rauf traps Burl lbw with a peach of a yorker on the final ball to hand Pakistan greater control of the match.

113-6 after 17 overs:

102-6 after 16 overs: Qadir finishes his quote of overs with figures of 4-0-29-3. Yet another first rate performance by the legspinner who seems to like Zimbabwe.

98-6 after 15 overs: Ryan Burl 6 (7) Luke Jongwe 1 (3)

95-6 after 14 overs: Big wicket as captain Williams gets greedy, tries to follow up a boundary with another and gets caught.

Later in the over, Qadir picks up another, trapping Regis Chakabva lbw.

87-4 after 13 overs:

82-4 after 12 overs: And Pakistan are back in the game just like that! Ervine plays a needless reverse sweep and gets caught by Nawaz, whose limbs, cap and shades were flying in every direction but he did not let go of the ball.

77-3 after 11 overs: The Professor does it. He gets Kamunhukamwe (29) to dance down the track but the ball sneaked its way into the hands of Rizwan at the back. 

73-2 after 10 overs: Tinashe Kamunhukamwe 27 (32) Craig Ervine 30 (18)

66-2 after 9 overs: A sight for the sore eyes: Hafeez with the ball. He concedes nine off his first over.

57-2 after 8 overs: Another expensive over, this time by Nawaz, who is swept for two boundaries.

47-2 after 7 overs: Craig Ervine decides to go after Usman Qadir and finds a six and a four but also gets beaten once.

35-2 after 6 overs: 

30-2 after 5 overs: Just four singles off the over.

26-2 after 4 overs: Craig Ervine 4 (3) Tinashe Kamunhukamwe 8 (11)

21-2 after 3 overs: Hasnain takes two wickets off the final two balls to bring Pakistan back in the game. Madhevere goes for 14 while debutant Tadiwanashe Marumani plays a nothing shot and is caught at mid-on.

18-0 after 2 overs: Three boundaries off the over as Faheem Ashraf concedes 13.

5-0 after 1 over: Madhevere with a boundary in the opening over.

0-0 after 0 over: No Shaheen Afridi today so Mohammad Hasnain opens the attack. Tinashe Kamunhukamwe and Wesley Madhevere open the innings for Zimbabwe.

Story at the break: Pakistan lost a toss they did not want to and were put in to bat first. The batsmen struggled for runs on what was a 'two-paced' wicket. Had Zimbabwean fielders not offered so many lifelines to Pakistani batters, things could have been much uglier. 

Only Rizwan (82 off 61), who was also dropped, was among the runs. He opened and batted till the end to give Pakistan what can be a defendable total, if their bowlers can replicate their hosts' excellent and disciplined bowling. 

149-7 after 20 overs: Big last over for Pakistan as Rizwan scores 20 off it.

Mohammad Rizwan 82 (61) Usman Qadir 2 (4)

129-7 after 19 overs: An excellent final over by Muzarabani as he bowls three straight dot balls to tail-ender Usman Qadir. The 6'8 pacer finishes with figures of 4-0-22-1.

124-7 after 18 overs: Mohammad Nawaz skies the final ball and is caught by the keeper. He contributed nine off nine.

111-6 after 17 overs: Mohammad Rizwan 58 (52) Mohammad Nawaz 4 (4)

104-6 after 16 overs: Pakistan lose two wickets in the over. First, Haider (5) is bowled on a yorker by Jongwe before new man in Faheem Ashraf is run out.

Mohammad Rizwan 55 (50) Mohammad Nawaz 0 (0)

96-4 after 15 overs: Mohammad Rizwan 49 (47) Haider Ali 4 (7)

93-4 after 14 overs: Haider Ali 2 (3) Mohammad Rizwan 48 (45)

89-4 after 13 overs: Danish Aziz (15 off 11) caught at short fine leg. 

Haider Ali is in.

82-3 after 12 overs: First six of international career for Danish Aziz.

74-3 after 11 overs: A bunch of singles and doubles but no boundaries.

67-3 after 10 overs: Danish Aziz 2 (3) Mohammad Rizwan 38 (32)

63-3 after 9 overs: Hafeez out for 5. It has not been a great African tour for him.

Debutant Danish is next man in.

55-2 after 8 overs: 50 up for Pakistan and 7,000 T20 runs up for Hafeez.

45-2 after 7 overs: The super talented Wesley Madhevere bowls out Fakhar (13 off 14). 

Mohammad Hafeez is the new man in.

42-1 after 6 overs: After Rizwan, Fakhar is also dropped, with the culprit being Zimbabwe captain Sean Williams.

32-1 after 5 overs: Rizwan is dropped at mid-on and he makes Zimbabwe pay with two boundaries in the over.

21-1 after 4 overs: Good contest between Fakhar and Muzarabani, who is bowling length balls to the lefty.

13-1 after 3 overs: An outside edge four was the only thing of note in the over.

8-1 after 2 overs: Width is offered by Blessing Muzarabani and Babar  (2) tries to cash it but gets caught at backward point. A rare failure for the superstar batsman.

Fakhar Zaman 0 (3) Mohammad Rizwan 6 (5)

6-0 after 1 over: A quiet over is livened up by a final-ball sweep by Rizwan for a four.

0-0 after 0 overs: Left-arm spinner Wellington Masakadza to bowl the first over to the pairing of Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam.

Line-ups

Pakistan XI: Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam (capt.), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Haider Ali, Danish Aziz, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Usman Qadir, Mohammad Hasnain, Haris Rauf.

Zimbabwe XI: Tinashe Kamunhukamwe, Wesley Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Craig Ervine, Sean Williams (capt.), Ryan Burl, Regis Chakabva (wk), Luke Jongwe, Wellington Masakadza, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava.

1:30pm: Zimbabwe have won the toss and invited Pakistan to bat first. Danish Aziz will make his T20I debut for Pakistan.

1:20pm: We are 10 minutes away from the toss.

Come this way for our match preview.

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