Pakistan clinch T20I series against Zimbabwe after a thrilling see-saw battle at Lahore

LAHORE: Pakistan continued to celebrate the return of international cricket with a thrilling two-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in the second Twenty20 on 24th May. The hosts, who won the first match by five wickets, clinched the series 2-0 in what was the first international cricket series in Pakistan in six years due to security concerns. [caption id=“attachment_2261244” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Cricket came home with a series victory. Pakistani players celebrate winning a close-fought T20 series against Zimbabwe. Photo: Getty[/caption] Needing 12 runs off the last over with only two wickets in hand, No. 10 batsman Bilawal Bhatti kept his nerve in front of 27,000 fans to take Pakistan to a winning 176-8 with two balls to spare. Zimbabwe had earlier posted yet again a decent score of 175-3 with Sean Williams scoring an unbeaten 58 off 32 balls and Vusi Sibanda contributing 49. “In Twenty20 cricket you don’t see one-sided matches and today was no different,” Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi said. “I am happy that big crowds came and both matches went well which must have sent strong message about Pakistan to the cricketing world.” Bhatti brought the fans to their feet with a six off the first ball of the final over, two off the third and a boundary off the fourth to finish on 13 not out. “We are not satisfied with the result, we were in a good position to take the match but we gave it away,” Williams said. “We were short on runs in both matches and dropped catches didn’t help us today.” Pakistan opener Mukhtar Ahmed scored a blistering 62 off 40 balls before Zimbabwe hit back with a flurry of wickets through some brilliant fielding. Pakistan was cruising at 95-2 at the halfway stage of their run chase before Prosper Utseya, one of two changes made by Zimbabwe from the first match, ran out Shoaib Malik off a direct throw. Zimbabwe made it 117-4 in the 14th over when Ahmed, who was dropped twice on 15 and 55, was smartly caught by Sibanda on the edge of the long-on boundary. Ahmed, who made 83 in the first match, hit six fours and a six but his dismissal triggered the collapse. Afridi (7) couldn’t last long after hitting one six and perished at mid off and Mpofu had Umar Akmal (30) leg before wicket in the 17th over with Pakistan still needing 24 runs. Mpofu gave away only five runs in the penultimate over and Zimbabwe looked to have their first Twenty20 victory over Pakistan in six matches before Bhatti squashed their hopes through some neat hitting. Earlier, after Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura won his second successive toss, Sibanda featured in two solid partnerships of 68 runs each with Hamilton Masakadza (39) and Williams. Only offspinner Malik bowled a decent spell of 1-23 as Zimbabwe’s batsmen capitalized on short deliveries of Pakistan fast bowlers. Masakadza hit Bhatti for three successive boundaries in one over and Williams scored his maiden half century in Twenty20 with a six over midwicket off Afridi. Chigumbura (21) lifted the total in the end with three successive sixes off fast bowler Mohammad Sami, who was the most expensive bowler with 1-38. Both teams will now compete in the three-match one-day series starting at the same venue on Tuesday. AP