On Wednesday, Pakistan defeated Zimbabwe by 11 runs after restricting the host for 138 for 7 in the first T20 match of the Pakistan tour of Zimbabwe, 2021. Pakistan lost the toss and was forced to bat first on a pitch where the ball wasn’t coming on the bat.
It was Pakistan’s wicket-keeper Mohammad Rizwan, who saved the day with the bat for the team. He played an explosive not out inning of 82 runs off just 61 balls including 10 fours and a six. He played with an impressive strike rate of 134.43 to help Pakistan reach a fighting score of 149 for 7 in the first 20 overs.
However, Zimbabwe’s gave a tough fight to the visitors. The match went on to the last over but Pakistan restricted Zimbabwe for 138 for 7, claiming a win by 11 runs. Pakistan’s Usman Qadir did the job with the ball. He took three wickets giving away just 29 runs, including the wicket of Craig Ervine (34), who looked in good touch with the bat for Zimbabwe’s.
Although, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam wasn’t much happy with the win and displayed his concern about coming back better in the next game.
“It wasn’t a convincing win. The conditions were different and the wicket was two-paced and the batsmen couldn’t adjust to it. Hopefully, we’ll come back well. When you come from bouncy to low bounce wickets you need to adjust, and we need to work on it. Had there been a partnership with Rizwan, the total could have been better”. said, Babar Azam.
However, It was Rizwan’s last over carnage gathering 20 runs out of it that made the difference. He was awarded as the man of the match for his destructive batting. Pakistan and Zimbabwe will face each other in the second T20 on 23rd April 2021 at the Harare Sports Club, Harare.
