Zimbabwe toured Pakistan in late October 2020 for the three-match ODI and T20I series. After losing the ODI leg of the series 1-2 to Pakistan, Zimbabwe played a 3-match T20I series as well from 7th November to 10th November. A solitary win in the ODI series – a win in a thriller in the third ODI in a Super Over – might have upped the Zimbabwean hopes for a good performance in the T20 leg of the series. However, they were whitewashed by Pakistan who won all the T20I matches, none of which was a closely fought contest. Thus, Zimbabwe went back home with just a solitary win in those 6 limited-overs encounters against Pakistan.
Let’s take a look at the series and some important statistics of the 3-match T20I series.
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Match Reviews
e ODI leg of the Zimbabwe tour of Pakistan ended on 3rd November 2020 and the T20 leg started 4 days later, on 7th November 2020, with the first day-night T20I in Rawalpindi. After winning the toss and electing to bat first, Zimbabwe managed 156 in the first innings thanks to Wesley Madhevere’s knock of 70 off 48 deliveries with 9 fours and a six. Harris Rauf and Wahab Riaz took 2 wickets each. Pakistan got over the line easily in the 19th over with the help of 82 off just 55 balls from Babar Azam opening the innings for Pakistan. He also hit 9 fours and a six. Blessing Muzarbani took 2 wickets for Zimbabwe. Babar Azam was declared the Man of the Match for his superb knock.
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In the second T20I, Pakistan put Zimbabwe to bat first, but the guests managed to get 134 in the allotted 20 overs. Ryan Burl became the top scorer lower down the order with a knock of 32 off 22 deliveries. Haris Rauf and Usman Qadir took 3 wickets each for Pakistan. Chasing a small target, Babar Azam scored another half-century, whereas Haidar Ali, the top scorer, managed to make 66 off 43 deliveries with 6 fours and 3 towering sixes. Pakistan got over the line with 29 balls and 8 wickets to spare. Muzarbani was the only wicket-taker for Zimbabwe who took the only two wickets that fell in the Pakistan innings. Haidar Ali was adjudged Man of the Match for his unbeaten match-winning knock that made this match a non-contest.
Zimbabwe’s performance declined further in the 3rd T20 international of the series. They might have expected the third ODI played earlier this month to be repeated, but that wasn’t supposed to come true. In fact, their performance declined even further in the third T20I which they lost by 8 wickets with 28 balls to spare.
As had already been the trend, Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat first in the third T20 encounter in Rawalpindi. They were reduced to 75 for 6 in the 13th over with Usman Qadir’s excellent opening spell. The lower order, especially 28 off 22 from Donald Tiripano, helped Zimbabwe reach 129 for 9 in 20 overs. Chamu Chibhabha at the opening became Zimbabwe’s top scorer with 31 off 28 deliveries with 3 fours and a six. Usman Qadir took 4 wickets for just 13 runs in the 4-over spell.
Pakistan tried a new opening pair – Abdullah Shafique along with regular opener Fakhar Zaman. Shafique scored 41 not out off 33 deliveries with 4 fours and a six and remained at the crease until the end. Khushdil Shah also scored 36 off just 15 deliveries with 3 fours and 3 sixes. Babar Azam was not needed to come to bat as Pakistan got over the line in the 16th over with 8 wickets to spare. Masakadza and Shumba took 1 wicket each for Zimbabwe. For a match-winning 4-wicket spell, Usman Qadir was named the Man of the Match.
With this loss, Zimbabwe ended the T20 leg of the series against Pakistan without a single win.
The Tour AnalyThe Tour Analytics
first T20 match where the target went over 150 runs, the remaining 2 encounters turned out low-scoring. In all three encounters, irrespective of who won the toss, Zimbabwe always batted first and lost the match. While Zimbabwe managed to lose 22 wickets overall in the 3 T20Is, Pakistan lost just 8 wickets in total.
Top ScorersTop Scorers
the top scorer for Pakistan with 133 runs in 2 innings at an average of 66.50 followed by Haidar Ali with 103 runs in 3 innings.
| Mat | Inn | Runs | Ave | SR | |
| Babar Azam | 3 | 2 | 133 | 66.50 | 160.24 |
| Haidar Ali | 3 | 3 | 100 | 50.00 | 140.84 |
Top scorers for Pakistan
Madhevere became Zimbabwe’s top scorer with 103 runs in the series followed by Chibhabha as shown in the table below.
| Mat | Inn | Runs | Ave | SR | |
| Wesley Madhevere | 3 | 3 | 103 | 51.5 | 122.61 |
| Chamu Chibhabha | 3 | 3 | 46 | 15.33 | 117.94 |
Top scorers for Zimbabwe
Top Wicket-TakerTop Wicket-Takers
8 wickets for 6 runs in the series was the top wicket-taker followed by 6 wickets from Haris Rauf.
| Mat | Inn | Runs | Wkt | Avg | |
| Usman Qadir | 3 | 3 | 60 | 8 | 7.50 |
| Haris Rauf | 3 | 3 | 94 | 6 | 15.66 |
Top wicket-takers for Pakistan
Blessing Muzarbani was the top wicket-taker for Zimbabwe with 4 wickets in 3 matches. He took half the Pakistani wickets that fell in the T20 series. No other bowler has stats worth mentioning.
| Mat | Inn | Runs | Wkt | Avg | |
| Blessing Muzarbani | 3 | 3 | 72 | 4 | 18 |
Top wicket-taker for Zimbabwe
Half-Centuries aHalf-Centuries and Five-Wicket Hauls
4 half-centuries in the series – Babar Azam – Pak (2), Wesley Madhevere – ZIM (1) and Haider Ali – Pak (1). There were no five-wicket hauls in the series with the highest being 4 for 13 from Usman Qadir in the 3rd T20I.
Partnerships
The
Partnerships
ps in the series were all formed by Pakistan batsmen with 2 involving Babar Azam. A partnership of 100 runs between Babar Azam and Haidar Ali was the highest in the tournament followed by an 80-run partnership between Babar Azam and Mohammad Hafiz. Wesley Madhevere was involved in the top 2 partnerships for Zimbabwe – two 44-run partnerships with Sikandar Raza and Sean Williams.Review Summary
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