Pakistan vs Zimbabwe, 23rd Match, Pool B at Brisbane, Mar 01 2015 - Ball by Ball Commentary

9.55pm Alrighty, folks. That was a fantastic game of 50-over cricket, and a pleasure to bring to you. Hope you enjoyed it, and keep tuning in for more. Until next time, ta ta!

KaFi: "Assuming India, SA and West Indies take three of the slots from this group, the last league match between Pak and Ireland should decide the fourth slot" -- I don't think we can assume any such thing. West Indies, Ireland and Pakistan will all be in contention for the third and fourth slots, I think. And hey, it's also possible that Pakistan could beat South Africa.

WasimQadir: "Where is that guy who said "If Pakistan win any match in this World Cup I will quit my civil engineering job and shave my head and walk around Calgary downtown wearing my green shirt?""

Misbah: "It was really tough, because it was make or break for us. We were in a must-win situation. You can't believe how happy we are, because we would be out of the tournament if we lost this game. Pitch wasn't easy, it was holding up, it was a bit two-paced. When I went there I found it really difficult to rotate the strike. I was thinking if we could get to 250-260 it would be really challenging, because we had five regular bowlers. We were 15-20 runs short after losing those wickets, but the kind of quality the bowlers showed, the fielding was also good, credit should be given to the fast bowlers, the way they bowled today. When there is extra bounce, Irfan is the kind of bowler, if somebody hasn't faced him before, it can be really difficult, especially in Australian conditions. We need to really work hard, because we need to improve our batting. Other teams are getting to 300, 280, 290. We need to start well and capitalise."

Chigumbura: "I'm still to go for a scan, I will know tomorrow morning. Today the bowling was much better, thought we executed well, but we gave away too many extras, if you are being critical about our bowling. It's disappointing to lose a game like this when we felt we had a good chance of winning. Hamilton getting out was the turning point. We have to learn from this. We haven't had one guy scoring a hundred and carrying us through. That's where we need to improve."

DJ: "Umpires haven't given good decisions. There were at least 3-4 front foot no-balls and some wides missed. If umpires' decisions were correct then the result might be different. Better luck next time Zimbabwe."

Wahab Riaz is the man of the match. "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. Thanks to them and thanks to Almighty Allah. 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."

Greening: "Brisbane's produced a couple of good competitive games that have ebbed and flowed. Shame that's the last match there." -- Yup, this is an awesome pitch. Bounce, a bit of seam movement, and turn for the spinners.

Sidd: "Though Pakistan have won this, they've played quite poorly to say the least. Thankfully for them, Zimbabwe played worse and left too much for Chigumbura to do in the end. Tough road ahead for both teams in this WC. Pakistan will obviously go back happier but not satisfied."

9.36pm Four wickets for Wahab, four for Irfan. Rahat Ali was also excellent, and the three left-armers have been at the forefront of Pakistan's defence of 235. Zimbabwe looked to be on course to reach the target at various points of the chase, but Pakistan kept chipping away and kept picking up wickets at critical junctures. You feel they needed one of Masakadza, Taylor or Williams to carry on and make a far more substantial score. Brilliant game from Wahab, a critical half-century and a four-for.

24 to win now. Chigumbura's played wonderfully, but this, you feel, is too far away

Here's that man Irfan. Can he get a five-for? Or can Zimbabwe, somehow, go after him?

PEEYUSH: "That's the difference b/w a top side and an average: Australia were bowling out Starc in search of every possible wicket and Pak kept Wahab and Irfan for last 3 vers when they could have sealed the win 8-10 overs back" -- Australia were defending a far smaller target. There was no way that was going to be a 50-over chase.

Superb atmosphere at the ground, lots of synchronised clapping as the bowler runs in

Wahab Riaz back into the attack. Zimbabwe need 34 from 18.