ZIM vs PAK 2018: Pakistan Obliterate Zimbabwe in the First T20I by 74 Runs

Pakistan obliterated Zimbabwe in the first T20I of the tri-series by 74 runs in Harare.

The hosts had won the toss and decided to put the visitors into bat. The tourists put an above par score of 182 in their 20 overs. However, Zimbabwe was skittled out for a paltry 108 runs.

Fakhar Zaman scored a fine 61 off 40 balls. The southpaw batsman smashed three boundaries and as many maximums during his knock.

Dominating Display from Pakistan.

Shoaib Malik and Asif Ali provided the finishing touches to the Pakistan innings. Both the right-handers collected 61 runs off the last five overs to help their side to a good total. Malik scored unbeaten 37 off 24 balls while Ali clobbered 41 off 21 deliveries.

In fact, Malik also reached his landmark of 2000 T20I runs in his 92nd inning. Thus, the right-hander became the third batsman to complete 2000 runs in the shortest format of the game. New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill are the other two players to get to the personal milestone.

On the other hand, Zimbabwe batsman could not get going in their batting innings. Hasan Ali, Usman Khan, Mohammed Hafeez and Mohammad Nawaz bagged two wickets each to put Zimbabwe on the sword.

However, the hosts failed to get any impetus in their innings. Opener Solomon Mire scored 27 runs while Tarisai Musakanda scored 43 runs to help their team reach the 100-run mark.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe also suffered an injury blow in the match. The host’s fast bowler Kyle Jarvis hurt his bowling hand when he tried to catch the ball at the long-on position.

Thus, Zimbabwe will aim to put a better performance against Australia in the second T20I which will be played at the same venue.