Pakistan beat Zimbabwe by 2 wickets in the 2nd T20 of the series and thus won the series by 2-0. Pakistan achieved the target of 176 runs in 19.4 overs.
Match Report: Pakistan v Zimbabwe; 2nd T20I; Gaddafi Stadium Lahore, 24th May, 2015.
In one of a nail-biting T20 encounters Pakistan finally made it to seize victory from Zimbabwe who were very much in form to beat hosts on their home ground. Like in a characteristic T20 game, victory sways between both Pakistan & Zimbabwe in this game and nothing was certain till the last over. Pakistan was on verge of losing the match when a cameo appearance by Bilawal Bhatti saved the day for his team.
Mukhtar Ahmad surely is a great finding for Pakistan team. Pakistan team has long been searching for a reliable opener; Ahmad surely is now one of the main contenders. After his splendid 83 runs in the first match, Ahmad today again scored a fifty before Sikandar Raza got him out on 62.
In chase of a stiff target of 176 – runs, openers provided a 44-run stable start to Pakistan, with Ahmad Shehzad departing at the individual score of 18. Vitori broke the partnership which implied to be threatening in perspective of their first T20 performance.
After Shehzad one after the other players came & left and no one showed resistance besides Umar Akmal. His 30 runs kept Pakistan in the game. It was in the 19th over when Pakistan lost its 8th wicket & Bhatti stepped in. His decisive 13 off 5 balls helped Pakistan to grasp victory from jaws of Zimbabwe. Pakistan required 12 runs in the last over, when Bhatti on first ball hit a massive six, followed by two runs and then the winning four he hit on the fourth ball of the over. Christopher Mpofu and Sean Williams picked up two wickets apiece.
Earlier in the game, Zimbabwe who after winning the toss decided to bat first, was impressive. Crossing 170 plus mark in consecutive games and that too on foreign soil is not an easy task and it sheds enough light on their reformed batting unit.
Zimbabwe lost their first wicket on 68 runs. Openers Hamilton Masakadza and Vusi Sibanda gave a solid start to Zimbabwe. Where Sibanda was playing his game, it was Sean Williams who baffled Pakistani bowlers with his superb creativeness. They together also put 68-runs on 2nd wicket stand.
Shahid Afridi dismissed Sibanda on 49 off 46. Skipper Elton Chigumbura was furious like first ODI and was all set to smash Pakistan team hardly. He hit 3 consecutive sixes to Muhammad Sami. Before he became victim of Sami, he had already scored 21 runs in just 9 balls. Williams remained unbeaten on 58 off 32 balls. Sami, Afridi & Malik grabbed one wicket each.
Mukhtar bagged the man-of-the-match and man-of-the-series awards for his top-notch batting display.
Scorecard:
Pakistan 176 for 8 (Mukhtar 62, Akmal 30, Mpofu 2-25) vs Zimbabwe 175 for 3 (Williams 58*, Sibanda 49).
Man of the Match: Mukhtar Ahmad (Pakistan)
Disappointment of the Day: Shoaib Malik (Pakistan)