Zimbabwe vs Pakistan, 33rd Match, Group A at Kandy, , Mar 14 2011 - Match Result

Not as dominating a performance as Pakistan would have liked perhaps, but they were rarely in trouble and cruised to victory.

Shafiq: "It always feels great when you play your first game and finish it like that. I know my game, I know my strengths. I like Mohammad Yousuf a lot, and I try to play like him."

Besides the win, some of the pluses for Pakistan are the decent innings from Mohammad Hafeez, and the mature knock from Asad Shafiq. Gul was outstanding with the ball again, and the rest of the bowling was tidy as well.

Presentation ceremony:

Chigumbura: " Again we lost too many wickets first up, from there it was tough to come back into the game, and the rain also made it hard for us to get some momentum. After this, we are going to go home and work on batting, especially in the first 10 overs. I thought Ervine played pretty well, I'm happy with the bowling also, the spinners with old ball bowled good lines."

Afridi: "I think the way we started, the way Gul and Razzaq they started very well, and then the spinners. I think the way Hafeez played, good to see him back, and Shafiq played an amazing knock, I tried to finish the game early but I'm sure I will perform with the bat as well."

Gul is the Man of the Match: "I'm back in my form and rhythm. I tried to bowl wicket to wicket, I looked at the pitch before the match, I was happy to bowl first. We are looking forward to the game against Australia, we have done our homework, we will do our best."

That's that from Pallekele then. Sahil Dutta has the match bulletin for you over here.

Thanks everyone for all the mails, do join us tomorrow for the South Africa-Ireland match tomorrow. Till then, from Liam Brickhill, and me Siddarth Ravindran, good night.