Pakistan 148 for 0 (Ayub 113*, Shafique 32*) beat Zimbabwe 145 (Myers 33, Williams 31, Abrar 4-33, Salman 3-26) by ten wickets
Pakistan made up for a lackluster performance in the first ODI with a near-perfect performance in the second, crushing Zimbabwe by ten wickets to level the series. Opener Saim Ayub scored the fastest ODI hundred by any Pakistani other than Shahid Afridi, bringing in three figures in 53 balls as Pakistan reached the target of 146 with 32 overs to spare. It ended an all-round performance after Pakistan spinners put Zimbabwe on their backs after being asked to bowl first, debuting Abrar AhmedIt was 4 for 33, the pick of the group as Zimbabwe were bowled out in 32.3 overs.
It was evident that Zimbabwe had fallen well below par in the first innings, but Pakistan had collapsed to 60 for 6 in the first ODI, and knew there was work to be done when they were had set a goal, however modest it may be. This time, however, there was no drama as the first matches started brightly and continued in the same vein. Ayub led the way, his natural aggression neutralizing the initial threat of Blessing Muzarabani and giving Abdallah Shafique the space to find your way into form.
There were some initial nervousnesses. Richard Ngarava pulled a thick outside edge from Ayub which flew into the vacant second slip zone, while an errant drive from Shafique found Sean Williams at the back point, only for the defensive player to bomb it.
By now, Ayub had started to purr. Trevor Gwandu, the first change, was greeted by two thunderous shots from offside, followed by a four and a six in his second over. Those six brought a 32-ball half-century for Ayub, and he was still only in third gear.
The spinners could not do much in the absence of pressure on the scoreboard. Legspinner Brandon Mavuta was sent for three successive boundaries at the start of the 14th over, and lost 47 in the four overs he bowled.
Sikandar Razahe, too, was not capable of being the handbrake he often is, with Ayub pushing him back at will. It was through him that Ayub got the boundary which took him into three figures. His low-key celebration — a removal of the helmet and a flash of a smile in the locker room — didn’t really reflect the brilliance of the inning, but his teammates cheering in the pavilion knew he had done his job.
In the first innings, Pakistan’s spinners put up a dominant performance with the ball, bowling Zimbabwe out for 145 runs. After winning the toss and batting first, Zimbabwe got off to a good start thanks to Dion Myers‘ entertaining 30-ball 33, but the lack of significant contributions combined with the discipline of Pakistan’s spinners prevented Zimbabwe from building substantial partnerships.
Tadiwanashe Marumani and Joylord Gumbie were involved in the second round in as many matches to break the opening stand. Abrar Ahmed, opening the bowling alongside Aamer Jamal, took a sharp turn to get rid of Gumbie for his first ODI wicket before Myers and Craig Ervine began to rebuild.
Ervine was quite happy to let Myers be the aggressor, and the 38 men together managed to bring Zimbabwe back to equal footing. But Salman Aghaperhaps the pick of the Pakistani spinners that day, trapped Myers in front and pulled a shot from Ervine to tie Zimbabwe back, and from then on the wickets fell at regular intervals.
Another rebuild, this time from Williams and Raza, was thwarted after Salman placed Raza in the offside to reduce Zimbabwe to 97 for 5. The lower-order collapse occurred when an attempted Williams’ reverse sweep on Ayub saw him trapped in front, and the rest fell in a heap.
Zimbabwe lost the last five wickets for 24 runs as Abrar returned to trap his fourth, while Faisal Akram cleaned up Muzarabani to end the innings. It seemed well below par then, and by the time Ayub had finished it couldn’t have been clearer.
