Pakistan will hope to make it three out of three against Zimbabwe in today’s final ODI at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium after holding an unassailable lead in the three-match series.
Pakistan would also see a win at the top of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League table with 30 points, equivalent to England, which has already played six internationals, winning three in the process and losing as many.
In the first two matches, Zimbabwe had some impressive performances, but struggled to string together a perfect team effort. On the other hand, Pakistan has seen contributions flowing in from all quarters.
The area that visitors would like to fix most would be the top order, which in each of the two matches has not fired. Captain and opener Chamu Chibhabha will be important for assisting to deliver a good start to the final match for Zimbabwe.
That, however, would not be an easy task against a formidable attack by Pakistan. In the first ODI, spinner Iftikhar Ahmed led the charge in the second match, where fast bowlers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Wahab Riaz did most of the damage.
Iftikhar chipped away into the middle order with the raps having given a perfect start, with only Sean Williams (75 of 70) going past fifty. Key blows were hit by the off-spinner, including the wickets of Brendan Taylor and Williams on his way to a career-best 5/40.
Newly-appointed captain Babar Azam excelled in the second game after missing out in the first game, hitting a fluent 74-ball 77* to lead Pakistan to a six-wicket victory in a modest 207 chase.
Pakistan are expected to make some changes in the playing lineup for the final match. Mohammad Husnain, Zafar Gohar, and Fakhar Zaman are in line to make a comeback in the squad for the last match at the expense of Abid Ali, Haris Raif, and Imad Wasim, who were not included in the fifteen-member squad named on Monday.
“There could be more changes as the occasion is good enough to try their bench strength. We are preparing for tough international assignments ahead and as such require to test backup players,” a team official reported.
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