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 lacklustre performance in the first ODI with a near perfect one 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 up three figures in 53 balls as Pakistan coasted to the target of 146 with 32 overs to spare. It finished off an all-round performance after Pakistan’s spinners put Zimbabwe on the back foot after being asked to bowl first, debutant Abrar Ahmed‘s 4 for 33 the pick of the bunch as Zimbabwe were bowled out in 32.3 overs.
It was obvious Zimbabwe had fallen well below par in the first innings, but Pakistan had slumped to 60 for 6 in the first ODI, and knew there was a job to be done when they were set a target, however modest. This time, though, there was no drama as the openers started brightly, and continued in the same vein. Ayub led the way, his natural aggression neutering the early threat of Blessing Muzarabani, and giving Abdullah Shafique the space to work his way into form.
There were a couple of early jitters. Richard Ngarava drew a thick outside edge from Ayub that flew into the vacant second slip region, while an errant drive from Shafique found Sean Williams at backward point, only for the fielder to shell it.
By now, Ayub had begun to purr. Trevor Gwandu, the first change, was greeted with two cracking shots on the off side, followed up with a four and a six in his second over. That six brought up a 32-ball half-century for Ayub, and he was still only in third gear.
There was little the spinners could do in the absence of scoreboard pressure. Legspinner Brandon Mavuta was dispatched for three successive boundaries at the start of the 14th over, and leaked 47 in the four overs he bowled.
Sikandar Raza, too, wasn’t able to be the handbrake he often is, Ayub picking him off at will. It was off him that Ayub got the boundary that took him to three figures. His understated celebration – a whipping-off of the helmet and a flash of a smile to the dressing room – did not quite portray the brilliance of the innings, but his applauding team-mates in the pavilion knew he had done his job.
In the first innings, Pakistan’s spinners turned in a dominant performance with the ball, skittling Zimbabwe for 145. After winning the toss and batting first, Zimbabwe made a bright start thanks to Dion Myers‘ entertaining 30-ball 33, but a lack of meaningful contributions combined with discipline from Pakistan’s spinners meant Zimbabwe couldn’t get substantial partnerships going.
Tadiwanashe Marumani and Joylord Gumbie were involved in the second run-out in as many matches to break the opening stand. Abrar Ahmed, opening the bowling alongside Aamer Jamal, got sharp turn to get rid of Gumbie for his first ODI wicket before Myers and Craig Ervine began to rebuild.
Ervine was quite content to let Myers be the aggressor, and the 38 the two put together managed to get Zimbabwe back on something resembling level terms. But Salman Agha, perhaps the pick of Pakistan’s spinners on the day, trapped Myers in front and drew a nick from Ervine to peg Zimbabwe back, and from thereon, wickets fell at regular intervals.
Another rebuild, this time from Williams and Raza, was thwarted after Salman had Raza hole out into the off side to reduce Zimbabwe to 97 for 5. The lower-order collapse came when an attempted Williams reverse sweep off Ayub saw him trapped in front, and the remainder went down in a heap.
Zimbabwe lost the last five wickets for 24 runs as Abrar returned to snare his fourth, while Faisal Akram cleaned up Muzarabani to finish the innings off. It looked well under par then, and by the time Ayub was done, that couldn’t have been clearer.
