Milestone: FIFTY for ChibhabhaWhat an important knock from Chibhabha! One wicket here could trigger a collapse and Chibhabha will be aware of that predicament. Crucial phase of 10-15 overs coming up for the hosts.
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None of the Zimbabwe batsmen managed more than 30 runs on Thursday with Sean Williams (26) and Elton Chigumbura (22) the only ones to reach the 20s while the top six contributed a 110 runs. Zimbabwe have lost their first wicket in form of Hamilton Masakadza. Yasir dished out a variation of flat deliveries, a couple with a bit of flight and even managed to get a close LBW appeal turned down due to the height factor. Yasir vs Chibhabha will make for an intriguing battle ahead. Early morning cloud will aid new-ball bowlers during the first hour in the morning, and despite the menace of Pakistan’s spin attack the pitch is likely to be dry and a touch on the slow side. He pulls the Wahab Riaz delivery but can’t clear the tall Mohammad Irfan at fine leg. He goes for seven, Zimbabwe 27/1 (7.4 overs). Zimbabwe’s bowling and fielding was impressive, but it has been their batting that has left them down. Consolidation key for the hosts.
Pakistan captain Azhar Ali won the toss and put Zimbabwe in to bat in the second one-day global on Saturday, seeking a victory that would clinch the three-game series. Thirty-year old all-rounder Bilal Asif debuts for the visitors.
Asif was not originally included in Pakistan’s ODI squad for the three-match series against Zimbabwe, but was added when Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq suggested that the offspinner could be useful against an England side with five left-handers.
Zimbabwe, on the other hand, will be hoping to bounce back to level the series.
Zimbawe’s batting is their real worry.
It would be easy to pin the blame on Zimbabwe’s batsmen for the morass in which they now find themselves.
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In the first ODI, Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to field first. Sarfaraz Ahmed and Shoaib Malik then steadied the proceedings, before Mohammed Rizwan, who top-scored with 75 runs, and Imad Wasim, who was the second lead scorer with 61 runs, finished the batting innings on a respectable front, putting a final score of 259 runs.
