Following a third successive defeat in the ongoing triangular series, the hosts—Zimbabwe have been knocked out of the tournament. Although Pakistan sealed the match by 7 wickets, this encounter was not as one-sided as the other three matches in the competition.

Winning the toss, Pakistan opted to bowl first. Zimbabwe opener Solomon Mire didn’t let the Pakistan bowling attack take the match away from them like the tri-series opener. Following a 49-run opening partnership with Cephas Zuwao (24), Mire stitched another 64-run stand with Tansai Musakanda (33) after Zimbabwe skipper Hamilton Masakadza (2) fell cheaply.

Mire made 93 runs, the highest individual score for Zimbabwe in T20Is. The hosts registered a total of 162 for 4. Mohammad Amir, Faheem Ashraf, Shadab Khan, and Hussain Talat shared the wickets evenly.

In reply, Fakhar Zaman and Hussain Talat scored 40-odd runs each before the captain, Sarfraz Khan, finished the job with an unbeaten innings of 38 runs.

Mire took a wicket in a productive contribution with the ball. Masakadza and Chris Mpofu also took one wicket each but their efforts weren’t enough as Pakistan won the match with 5 balls remaining.

Pakistan and Australia have already sealed the spots in the final. They will face each other in the fifth group match on Thursday (July 5). Zimbabwe will also face Australia in their next match on July 6.

 

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