Wahab Riaz's all-round exploits and Mohammad Irfan's career-best 4 for 30 helped Pakistan get off the bottom of the table in Pool B as they defeated Zimbabwe by 20 runs in the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup clash in Brisbane on Sunday.
Chasing 235, Irfan exploited the extra bounce in the Gabba deck and sent back Chamu Chibhabha (9) and Sikandar Raza (8) with deliveries that kicked up. Hamilton Masakadza and Brendan Taylor steadied the ship and looked comfortable. However, Irfan returned and snapped the 52-run stand when Masakadza (29), in a rush of blood, miscued the lofted shot to
mid-off and Misbah-ul-Haq backtracked to take the high catch.
The arrival of Sean Williams boosted the scoring rate and he went after Irfan by smashing him for 15 runs in his seventh over. Williams' aggression helped Zimbabwe while at the other end, Taylor calmly scored his 32nd ODI fifty and his sixth against Pakistan. The 54-run stand off 49 balls had given Zimbabwe a good chance but Riaz broke the partnership when Taylor was strangled down the leg-side to depart for 50 off 72 balls.
In the 34th over, Rahat Ali got the crucial wicket when Williams failed to control the cut and he scooped a catch to Ahmed Shehzad at point to fall for 33 off 32 balls. Irfan returned in his third spell and accounted for Solomon Mire for 8 and that brought in Elton Chigumbura, who was in doubt after sustaining a quadricep injury while fielding. However, Chigumbura's inability to take the singles increased the pressure on Craig Ervine and Zimbabwe's chase crumbled.
Riaz struck twice in the 39th over by sending back Ervine for 14 and Tawanda Mupariwa for 0. Tinashe Panyangara and Chigumbura gave Pakistan some nervous moments by stitching a 47-run stand for the ninth wicket. Chigumbura, in particular, struck some good blows. However, Shahid Afridi bowled a maiden in the 47th over to Panyangara and the equation came down to 34 off 18 balls. Riaz held his nerve and conceded just six runs in the 48th over. Panyangara failed to lay bat on ball as the game slipped away from Zimbabwe. Irfan conceded just four runs in the penultimate over. Riaz then ran out Panyangara for 10 and sealed the match when Chigumbura gloved a catch to Umar Akmal for 35. In the process, Riaz became the first Pakistan pacer to pick up four wickets and score a fifty since Abdul Razzaq's 63 and 4 for 53 against Australia in Perth in 2005.
Earlier, Misbah-ul-Haq's 40th ODI fifty and a 45-ball fifty from Riaz helped Pakistan finish on 235/7. Pakistan chose to bat and they had a disastrous start with the openers departing cheaply yet again. Tendai Chatara was the wrecker-in-chief when he struck in his first over. Nasir Jamshed, who had scores of 2,30,0 and 0 in his previous four ODIs, once again fell to a poor stroke as he tamely pulled a short ball straight to Sikandar Raza at square leg to depart for 1. In Chatara's next over, he got Ahmed Shehzad with a delivery that straightened just outside off and he poked it to the keeper to depart for a 10-ball duck.
With Chatara and Panyangara bowling with tremendous discipline, run-making was difficult. Haris Sohail tried breaking the shackles when he punched Chatara straight down the ground for a boundary but Zimbabwe continued to grind Pakistan down.
Both batsmen buckled down and made slow progress. The 54-run partnership was helping Pakistan recover but Sikandar Raza struck in his first ball when Sohail (27) pulled a short ball straight to short midwicket. Umar Akmal arrived and the scoring rate quickened. He regularly rotated the strikes and attacked when the opportunity was presented.
Zimbabwe had a nervy moment in the 24th over when Misbah drove Tawanda Mupariwa to extra cover. Elton Chigumbura, the Zimbabwe skipper, gave chase and prepared to dive to get the ball back in but his knee jarred into the turf and he was in pain. He was gingerly helped off the field but scans revealed that there was no serious damage to Chigumbura's knee.
The partnership between Akmal and Misbah threatened to take the game away from Zimbabwe but Sean williams changed that in the 34th over. He cleaned up Akmal (33)with a delivery that was angled in and it gripped the surface to spin away to hit the top of off stump. Enter the evergreen 35-year-old Shahid Afridi. It was his birthday and Pakistan fans expected that he would bash the Zimbabwe bowlers away. However, Williams blew the candles away and played the party-poopers role perfectly when he bowled Afridi with a similar delivery which accounted for Akmal. It was Afridi's first duck in World Cups and it was his 30th in ODIs, the second-most by a batsman behind Sanath Jayasuriya's tally of 34.
Misbah's innings was a lesson to the other batsmen on how to combat the conditions. With the ball swinging generously both in the air and off the seam, strokemaking was attritional but he weathered the storm and held firm.
However, they were jolted in the death overs when Misbah holed out to long-on to depart for 73. Zimbabwe's death bowling, which was taken to the cleaners during the games against South Africa and West Indies, put in a better show. However, Riaz hung in there and struck some lusty blows towards the end. He also benefited from some sloppy fielding towards the end. Zimbabwe missed two run-out chances off him and Riaz was also dropped on 41 by Stuart Matsikenyeri. Riaz notched up his maiden ODI fifty and it was this knock that made the difference for Pakistan.
Brief scores: Pakistan 235/7 in 50 overs (Misbah-ul-Haq 73, Wahab Riaz 54*, Tendai Chatara 3/35) defeated Zimbabwe 215 all out in 49.4 overs (Brendan Taylor 50, Sean Williams 33, Mohammad Irfan 4/30, Wahab Riaz 4/45) by 20 runs.
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