Sports
Mohammad Irfan and Wahab Riaz's impressive bowling helped Misbah-ul Haq's men record a 20-run victory against Zimbabwe.
Updated : Sep 29, 2017, 07:58 PM IST
Pakistan recorded a much-needed win over Zimbabwe at the Brisbane Cricket Ground on Sunday, thanks to impressive bowling from pacemen Mohammad Irfan and Wahab Riaz, as Misbah-ul Haq's men recorded a 20-run victory in their World Cup tie.
Irfan ripped open the Zimbabwean batting line-up, claiming four crucial wickets, three of which included openers Chamu Chibhabha (9) and Sikandar Raza (8) and top-order batsman Hamilton Masakadza (29). He delivered impressive match-figures of 4 for 30.
Irfan was helped on the bowling end by Wahab Riaz, who also scalped four wickets, as Elton Chigumbura's men tried to chase down 235. Brendan Taylor was the only one to score a half-century for Zimbabwe, before he fell prey to Riaz's express delivery for 50.
Irfan and Riaz limited Zimbabwe with the bat as Chigumbura's men gave a fair chase to Pakistan's total. They were helped by paceman Rahat Ali, who also claimed a wicket.
World Cup 2015 Zimbabwe v/s Pakistan: Chatara shines as Zimbabwe restrict Pakistan to 235-7
Earlier, Pakistan had won the toss and opted to bat, posting 235-7 in their allotted 50 overs, after a stuttering start. Openers Nasir Jamshed and Ahmed Shehzad fell cheaply for one and a duck, before Haris Sohail contributed 23.
Skipper Misbah-ul Haq scored a steady 73 that came of 121 balls. Wicketkeeper-batsman Umar Akmal (33) and Misbah put up a fourth-wicket partnership of 69 runs. All-rounder Shahid Afridi failed to shine in the match, as he went for a duck and also failed to scalp a wicket in his 10-over spell. However, he delivered a maiden over and allowed only 53 runs to be scored during his spell.
World Cup 2015 Pakistan v/s Zimbabwe Match Highlights
Riaz also contribute with the bat and scored a half-century as he remained unbeaten on 54 runs, to take Pakistan's total to 235.
Pakistan's performance, however, was far from impressive, as save for Misbah and Riaz, none of their batsmen failed to impress with the bat. With a faltering opening and batsmen struggling to find a steady partnership in the middle, Pakistan didn't put up a strong total.
Riaz was named the Player of the Match for his all-round performance. He said that the discussion with Misbah was to play all 50 overs and added that if they take chances, they would do that in the last three or four overs, and rotate the strike till then.
He claimed that the team management are 'working really hard', and added that they believe 'he can do something with his batting'.