Zimbabwe v Pakistan, 2015
Wisden's review of the first Twenty20 International, Zimbabwe v Pakistan, 2015
15-Apr-2016
First Twenty20 international At Lahore, May 22, 2015 (floodlit). Pakistan won by five wickets. ‡Zimbabwe 172-6 (20 overs) (H. Masakadza 43, E. Chigumbura 54; Mohammad Sami 3-36); Pakistan 173-5 (19.3 overs) (Mukhtar Ahmed 83, Ahmed Shehzad 55). MoM: Mukhtar Ahmed. T20I debut: R.Mutumbami (Zimbabwe).
A full house at the Gaddafi Stadium included the country's president, Mamnoon Hussain, and witnessed the return of international cricket to Pakistan after 2,271 days. It was a poignant occasion for one of the Pakistani umpires, Ahsan Raza, who had sustained serious injuries in the March 2009 attack. Five Pakistanis - Ahmed Shehzad, Anwar Ali, Bilawal Bhatti, Mukhtar Ahmed and, after 186 appearances elsewhere, Umar Akmal - were playing an international match on home soil for the first time. Anwar bowled the first delivery, which rapped harmlessly into Hamilton Masakadza's pads - and raised the roof. Masakadza and Vusi Sibanda opened with 58 inside seven overs, before Mohammad Sami, in his first international for three years, removed both with successive balls. Elton Chigumbura steered Zimbabwe to their highest Twenty20 total against Pakistan with a 35-ball 54. But Pakistan were lifted by an opening partnership between Mukhtar and Shehzad of 142 - equalling their first-wicket record - and the match went down to the last over, with six needed. Shahid Afridi thumped his first ball, a full toss from Tinashe Panyangara, for the winning boundary, sending the crowd into raptures.
A full house at the Gaddafi Stadium included the country's president, Mamnoon Hussain, and witnessed the return of international cricket to Pakistan after 2,271 days. It was a poignant occasion for one of the Pakistani umpires, Ahsan Raza, who had sustained serious injuries in the March 2009 attack. Five Pakistanis - Ahmed Shehzad, Anwar Ali, Bilawal Bhatti, Mukhtar Ahmed and, after 186 appearances elsewhere, Umar Akmal - were playing an international match on home soil for the first time. Anwar bowled the first delivery, which rapped harmlessly into Hamilton Masakadza's pads - and raised the roof. Masakadza and Vusi Sibanda opened with 58 inside seven overs, before Mohammad Sami, in his first international for three years, removed both with successive balls. Elton Chigumbura steered Zimbabwe to their highest Twenty20 total against Pakistan with a 35-ball 54. But Pakistan were lifted by an opening partnership between Mukhtar and Shehzad of 142 - equalling their first-wicket record - and the match went down to the last over, with six needed. Shahid Afridi thumped his first ball, a full toss from Tinashe Panyangara, for the winning boundary, sending the crowd into raptures.