Pakistan swept the T20 series vs. Zimbabwe

Pakistan 1-179 (Ahmed Shehzad 98*, Mohammad Hafeez 54*, Nasir Jamshed 23, Shingi Masakadza 1-42) beat Zimbabwe 6-160 (Hamilton Masakadza 41, Elton Chigumbura 35*, Mohammad Hafeez 3-30, Zulfiqar Babar 2-21) by 19 runs.

Ahmed Shehzad blasted 98 runs by crushing the bowling of Zimbabwe and Mohammad Hafeez led from the front with his all round performance as Pakistan won easily.

The Green Shirts piled up 179 runs for the loss of one mere wicket at the end of the scheduled 20th over and Zimbabwe was restricted to 160 with four wickets remaining in the required over.

Ahmed Shehzad (Pakistan) was declared ‘Player of the match and ‘Player of the series’ for his outstanding batting.

The second and final Twenty20 of the series was held on Saturday, August 24, 2013, at Harare Sports club.

Earlier, Brendan Taylor, the captain of Zimbabwe, won the toss second time in a row and invited Pakistan to bat again. The innings was opened by Ahmed Shehzad along with Nasir Jamshed in a slow mode while scoring 15 runs in three overs. Nasir Jamshed was dropped at 6 by Hamilton Masakadza in the slip off Brian Vitori in the very next over and he responded with a six. The batsman could not last longer and was caught by Elton Chigumbura off Shingi Masakadza for 23 as the total reached 36 in 5.4 overs.

Ahmed Shehzad - 'Player of the match' and 'Player of the series'
Ahmed Shehzad – ‘Player of the match’ and ‘Player of the series’

The skipper of the Green Shirts, Mohammad Hafeez, got in next and started picking up the boundaries with Ahmed Shehzad who dispatched his third six in the 12th over. The later smashed his third T20 fifty two overs later with a four and the total went past the hundred runs mark. Mohammad Hafeez hit his first six in the 15th over and Ahmed Shehzad added another 14 runs in the next one with 1 six and 2 fours. The first attained his 6th T20 half century in the 18th over with 1 six and 1 four and secured his end for 54 off 40 balls comprising 2 lofty sixes and 3 fours. Ahmed Shehzad remained unbeaten for 98 off 64 mere deliveries with 6 towering sixes and even fours as the visitors hammered 179 with 9 wickets in hand after utilising 20 overs.

Vusi Sibanda and Hamilton Masakadza took off nicely by posting 44 runs in the first five overs with three boundaries each. The run rate was checked by the Green Shirt spinners as Sibanda was gone in the 8th over for 23. Brendan Taylor became the next victim for just three and was replaced by Sean Williams as Masakadza accumulated 11 runs three overs later with 1 six and 1 four. They took the score to 95 in 13.2 overs when Hamilton Masakadza was smartly caught by Umar Amin off Mohammad Hafeez for 41 from 32 with 1 six and 4 fours.

The left arm spinner, Zulfiqar Babar, removed Sean Williams for 25 and Timysen Maruma without opening his account in the 15th over. Malcolm Waller and Elton Chigumburs associated together and did not give up the chase. They enhanced the score to 146 after 18.4 overs ehen Waller was caught by Shahid Afridi off Anwar Ali for 20. Elton Chigumbura held his end for 35 off just 19 balls with 2 big sixes and 2 fours as the hosts managed 160 runs for the loss of six wickets in 20 overs.

Mohammad Hafeez was the star performer with three wickets, Zulfiqar Babar grabbed two whereas Shahid Afridi chipped in with one wicket.

Pakistan won the second T20 against Zimbabwe by a margin of 19 runs and clinched the series 2-0.


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