RESULT
1st T20I, Harare, September 16, 2011, Pakistan tour of Zimbabwe
(15.2/20 ov, T:199) 113

Pakistan won by 85 runs

Player Of The Match
71 (48) & 4/10
mohammad-hafeez
New
ZIM
Full commentary

That ends our coverage of the first T20. There's one more to go, and that's the very last chance for Zimbabwe to salvage something from this series. On behalf of the gang here, cheers and goodbye from Nitin Sundar. Bye!

Presentation time:

Hafeez is Man of the Match. Shock. Horror. "I was just doing the basics right, and it worked for me. I had a very good series in New Zealand in tough conditions. That confidence helped me."

Misbah: "Everyone is taking up their responsibility. Especially Hafeez, the way he's gone. Asad Shafiq too played very well. We just wanted the top order to play normal cricketing shot, and that's just what they did. The credit for the fielding goes to both coaches. Everyone understands how important this aspect of the game is these days, and the boys have worked hard to get to this level."

Pommie Mbangwa doesn't call upon Brendan Taylor for his quotes. Wonder if the captain even turned up for the presentation. Unfortunately, his team did not turn up for this match.

85 run win for Pakistan. In T20 parlance, this is a mauling. Zimbabwe will look back at their decision to play just three bowlers, but really they were just utterly shabby in the middle today. Pakistan were just the opposite, and this emphatic result, in the most unpredictable format of the game, shows how much behind the eight-ball Zimbabwe really are.

15.2
W
Hafeez to Price, OUT

Hafeez has four wickets to go with his 71. He is Man of the Match, and just give him the Nobel Prize now. Sharp, flat, straight, you-miss-I-hit stuff. Price slogs across the line and misses, the middle stump falls back. Hafeez follows up his career-best batting effort with his best figures in this format.

Ray Price b Mohammad Hafeez 3 (10b 0x4 0x6 11m) SR: 30
15.1
Hafeez to Price, no run

Hafeez keeps it full on leg stump, Price swings it away without making good contact to the leg side.

end of over 154 runs
ZIM: 113/9CRR: 7.53 RRR: 17.20
Ray Price3 (8b)
Chris Mpofu4 (4b)
Saeed Ajmal 2-0-10-1
Aizaz Cheema 3-0-21-1

"Waqar must be sad leaving this pakistani side now that it seems they are doing so well and united." Hamza, but Waqar has been long enough to know just how misleading these signs of a settled side have been in the past ...

14.6
1
Ajmal to Price, 1 run

he finally gets the reverse sweep right, past short third man for a single.

14.5
1
Ajmal to Mpofu, 1 run

gets behind the line this time and plays it back to the bowler.

14.4
1lb
Ajmal to Price, 1 leg bye

fired in on the pads, Price is late on the shot and it dribbles away off the pads to the leg side.

14.3
Ajmal to Price, no run
14.2
Ajmal to Price, no run

Hilarious! Umar Akmal appeals for a catch behind as Price reverse sweeps and misses. An impatient Ajmal turns umpire, says not out and gestures for the ball!

14.1
1
Ajmal to Mpofu, 1 run

flat on the pads, whipped through square leg for one.

end of over 145 runs • 2 wickets
ZIM: 109/9CRR: 7.78 RRR: 15.00
Chris Mpofu2 (2b)
Ray Price2 (4b)
Aizaz Cheema 3-0-21-1
Saeed Ajmal 1-0-7-1
13.6
1
Cheema to Mpofu, 1 run

full ball on off stump to end the over, driven down the ground for a single.

13.5
1
Cheema to Price, 1 run

on the pads, worked through square leg for a single.

"The Hussey dig at Ajmal was totally uncalled for.... Day ruined!" Apologies Aizaz! A bit like Miandad and Chetan Sharma. These will never die away.

13.4
1
Cheema to Mpofu, 1 run

over-pitched on off stump, driven through mid-off for a single.

13.4
2w
Cheema to Price, 2 wide

Cheema pushes this one too far down the leg side for a wide.

13.3
W
Cheema to Jarvis, OUT

I don't think I have ever seen Pakistan field this well. Yasir Shah has taken a dream catch running in from long on. Jarvis tried to nail this length ball from Cheema down the ground but looped it up in the air. Yasir bolted in, dived forward and was at full stretch, and almost on the roll as he took that catch inches above the grass. He seemed to have dived too early and was on the descent when he reached the ball, with his hands under him rather than in front. What a take!

Kyle Jarvis c Yasir Shah b Aizaz Cheema 0 (2b 0x4 0x6 1m) SR: 0
13.2
Cheema to Jarvis, no run

full-pitched on off and middle, pushed straight down the ground for one.

13.1
W
Cheema to Price, OUT

Zim have tried their best to give a wicket to a run out today. They have ultimately succeeded, and it is that man, Prof. Hafeez, once again. Price dabs listlessly in front of point and takes off equally listlessly. Taibu never had a chance. Hafeez charged in, picked up and swung down the stumps from point-blank range.

Tatenda Taibu run out (Mohammad Hafeez) 6 (7b 0x4 0x6 13m) SR: 85.71
end of over 137 runs • 1 wicket
ZIM: 104/7CRR: 8.00 RRR: 13.57
Ray Price1 (2b)
Tatenda Taibu6 (7b)
Saeed Ajmal 1-0-7-1
Yasir Shah 3-0-31-0
12.6
1
Ajmal to Price, 1 run

looks to sweep and plays it onto the boot. It goes to the off side and they get the single.

12.5
Ajmal to Price, no run

Price hangs back in the crease in an attempt to read the doosra and blocks to the off side.

12.4
1
Ajmal to Taibu, 1 run

turning into the sweep for Taibu to sweep for a single.

12.3
W
Ajmal to Coventry, OUT

ah, the honeymoon's over. Ajmal's wiles, as always (except when the batsman is Hussey), come to the fore. Fastish, loopy, speared on the stumps, Coventry top-edges the slog heave and it pops up between the keeper running back and short third man. They run into each other, but one of them has completed the catch by then.

Charles Coventry c †Umar Akmal b Saeed Ajmal 30 (13b 4x4 1x6 14m) SR: 230.76
12.2
4
Ajmal to Coventry, FOUR runs

Can Conventry be stopped? Just good clean hitting here. Ajmal tosses this up outside off, slow and drifty, looking for the mis-hit, but Coventry waits and slams it over midwicket for four.

12.1
1
Ajmal to Taibu, 1 run

tossed up on middle and leg, Taibu quietly takes the straight single and turns it over.

Ajmal finally comes on.

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