HARARE: Mohammad Rizwan struck 91 off 60 balls and pacer Hasan Ali grabbed four wickets as Pakistan defeated Zimbabwe by 24 runs on Sunday to win the Twenty20 international series 2-1 at Harare Sports Club.

The day was a memorable one for Pakistan captain Babar Azam who became the fastest batsman to reach 2,000 Twenty20 international runs, achieving the feat in 52 innings, four fewer than Indian superstar Virat Kohli.

Kohli has scored 3,159 runs in the 20-over format, but it took him 56 innings to pass the 2,000-run landmark. After Babar and Kohli come Australia skipper Aaron Finch (62 innings) and former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum (66).

Rizwan continued his brilliant form with the bat on the tour of South Africa and Zimbabwe as the opener followed an unbeaten 82 in the first match.

Babar won the toss, opted to bat and the tourists made 165-3 in 20 overs as they sought redemption after a shock 19-run second match loss.

Babar quickest 2,000 runs in shortest format

The batting of Rizwan and Babar (52) and the bowling of recalled Hasan (4-18) ensured Pakistan would not suffer the humiliation of losing twice to minnows Zimbabwe within three days.

Zimbabwe made a bold bid for victory, though, reaching 101 for one after 13 overs before being undone by the loss of three wickets within 15 balls for the addition of just eight runs.

As the Pakistan bowlers tightened their grip, only Brendan Taylor (20) made a meaningful score and the hosts finished on 141-7.

It was the second successive T20 series success for the tourists after beating South Africa 3-1 before travelling to Harare.

Rizwan cracked three sixes and five fours as Pakistan exceeded the expectations of Babar, who believed it would be a challenge to surpass 140 on what he considered a bowler-friendly pitch.

After the loss of Sharjeel Khan for 18 off the last ball of the fourth over, Rizwan and Babar put on 126 runs for the second wicket before the captain was out for 52 in the final over.

Medium pacer Luke Jongwe, the star of the shock Zimbabwe victory, was once again the most impressive bowler, taking the three wickets while conceding 37 runs.

Needing to score at a rate of 8.3 runs an over to overtake Pakistan and achieve a historic first bilateral T20 series victory, Zimbabwe began promisingly.

Unperturbed by the loss of Tarisai Musakanda for 10, fellow opener Wesley Madhevere and Tadiwanashe Marumani speedily put on 65 runs in a second-wicket stand.

But when Marumani (35) was bowled by Mohammad Hasnain, Pakistan took control and Madhevere (59) and Regis Chakabva (0) soon followed to the change room.

Hasan excelled among the Pakistan bowlers, and Haris Rauf (2-34) atoned for a costly earlier spell by capturing two wickets in the final over.

Pakistan will now take on Zimbabwe in a two-Test series, also in Harare, with the first one starting from Thursday.

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN:

Mohammad Rizwan not out 91

Sharjeel Khan c Muzarabani b Jongwe 18

Babar Azam c Burl b Jongwe 52

Fakhar Zaman c Burl b Jongwe 0

Hasan Ali not out 0

EXTRAS (LB-2, NB-2) 4

TOTAL (for three wkts, 20 overs) 165

FALL OF WKTS: 1-35 (Sharjeel), 2-161 (Babar), 3-161 (Fakhar).

DID NOT BAT: Mohammad Hafeez, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Usman Qadir, Mohammad Hasnain, Haris Rauf.

BOWLING: Muzarabani 4-0-35-0; Ngarava 4-0-34-0 (1nb); Jongwe 4-0-37-3 (1nb); Masakadza 4-0-24-0; Burl 4-0-33-0.

ZIMBABWE:

W. Madhevere c Sarfaraz b Hasan 59

T.K. Musakanda lbw b Hasan 10

T. Marumani b Hasnain 35

B.R.M. Taylor c Rizwan b Haris 20

R.W. Chakabva c Sharjeel b Hasan 0

S.C. Williams c Faheem b Hasan 9

L.M. Jongwe c Hasan b Haris 5

W.P. Masakadza not out 0

B. Muzarabani not out 0

EXTRAS (LB-3) 3

TOTAL (for seven wkts, 20 overs) 141

DID NOT BAT: R.P. Burl, R. Ngarava.

FALL OF WKTS: 1-37 (Musakanda), 2-102 (Marumani), 3-109 (Madhevere), 4-110 (Chakabva), 5-133 (Williams), 6-139 (Jongwe), 7-141 (Taylor).

BOWLING: Mohammad Hasnain 4-0-26-1; Hasan Ali 4-0-18-4; Faheem Ashraf 4-0-30-0; Haris Rauf 4-0-34-2; Usman Qadir 2-0-17-0; Mohammad Hafeez 2-0-13-0.

RESULT: Pakistan won by 24 runs to win three-match series 2-1.

UMPIRES: I. Chabi (Zimbabwe) and L. Rusere (Zimbabwe).

TV UMPIRE: C. Phiri (Zimbabwe).

MATCH REFEREE: A.J. Pycroft (Zimbabwe).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Hasan Ali.

MAN-OF-THE-SERIES: Mohammad Rizwan.

FIRST MATCH: Harare, Pakistan won by 11 runs.

SECOND MATCH: Harare, Zimbabwe won by 19 runs.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2021