Wahab Riaz stars in Pakistan's first win of World Cup 2015
A strong all-round show from Wahab Riaz helped Pakistan beat Zimbabwe by 20 runs to register their first win of their World Cup 2015 campaign in Brisbane on Sunday.
Pakistan's captain Misbah-ul-Haq won the toss and elected to bat first. But his decision initially seemed to have backfired as Pakistan lost their openers Nasir Jamshed and Ahmed Shehzad in the first four overs.
The double-blow forced Pakistan's batsmen to go on the defence and Misbah and Haris Sohail dropped anchor in their bid to prevent more setbacks.
The duo added 54 for the third wicket. Sohail's departure in the 21st over brought Umar Akmal to the centre and he joined forces with Misbah to add 69 for the fourth wicket.
The cautious approach meant that Pakistan managed just 200 in 45 over and they needed to push the tempo to reach a score that would challenge their opponents.
Riaz was the one who provided the spark that drove Pakistan to their eventual score of 235. He hit six fours and one six in his 46-ball 54. Zimbabwe's batsmen, like their opponents earlier, struggled to cope with the extra bounce that the surface offered.
They lost their openers in the first seven overs and they once again relied on their strong middle-order, of Brendon Taylor, Sean Williams and Craig Ervine, to bail them out of trouble.
Each got starts but failed to keep their wicket intact in the end. Riaz dismissed Taylor, Ervine, Elton Chigumbura and Tawanda Mupariwa. Riaz and Mohammad Irfan claimed four wickets each to help Pakistan register their first win.
"The discussion [with Misbah] was to play all 50 overs and if we take chances, we will do that in the last three or four overs, and rotate the strike till then. The team management are working really hard with me, they believe I can do something with my batting. In the start the ball was not coming on to the bat, not going through quickly, but we had to work hard, I think the way the fast bowlers and Shahid Afridi bowled, credit has to go to us. We know there were not many runs on the board and Irfan bowled really well. I want to dedicate this trophy to my dad and my mum. They will be really happy.," Riaz said.