BULAWAYO: Pakistan defeated Zimbabwe in the first match of the three-match T20 series, chasing Pakistan’s target of 166 runs, Zimbabwe was bowled out for 108, losing by 57 runs.
In the match played in Bulawayo, Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat first. Pakistan scored 165 runs for the loss of 4 wickets in their allotted overs. Tayyab Tahir remained unbeaten on 39 runs, and Irfan Khan made 27 runs. Usman Khan played an innings of 39 runs, while Syed Ayub scored 24, Aamir Yusuf made 16, and captain Salman Agha contributed 13 runs before being dismissed.
For Zimbabwe, Sikandar Raza and Richard Ngarava each took one wicket, while Wellington Masakadza and Ryan Burl also claimed a wicket each.
Chasing a target of 166, Zimbabwe struggled from the beginning, losing their first wicket at just 12 runs. Captain Sikandar Raza and Tadiwanashe Marumani fought back, but wickets kept falling, and three Zimbabwean batsmen were dismissed without scoring. By the 16th over, Zimbabwe’s entire team was bowled out for 108, losing by 57 runs.
Sikandar Raza (39) and Tadiwanashe Marumani (33) were the top scorers for Zimbabwe.
For Pakistan, Abrar Ahmed and Sufyan Maqeem took 3 wickets each, while Haris Rauf claimed 2 wickets and Jahan Dad Khan took 1 wicket.
Tayyab Tahir was named Player of the Match for his excellent batting performance. With this win, Pakistan took a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20 series.
It is noteworthy that Pakistan had earlier won the 3-match ODI series 2-1.
