Pakistan Trounce Zimbabwe Five-OhPakistan vs Zimbabwe, 5th One Day International, Sheikhupura Stadium
Pakistan completed a clean sweep over Zimbabwe here at Sheikhupura to win the 5 match Mobilink Cup and impose their dominance over the African minnows. Todays win ended as a predictably one-sided affair which neither Pakistan would like to boast too much about nor Zimbabwe would like to remember. Although Zimbabwe could have used a win against their name, there was little to console them.
The Zimbabwean batsmen lost their way early in their innings even though their captain trusted them and chose to bat on winning the toss. And although they were pitted against 2 debutant bowlers, they could not make any head way with the bat. The openers, Sibanda and Masakadza, tried to provide a brisk start but once they noticed that boundaries were hard to come by, they resorted to the back-up plan and commenced aggressive running between the wickets. Their ploy was getting results until a brilliant bit of outfielding by another debutante, Rizwan Ahmed, sent Sibanda scurrying, in vain, to make his ground. The Zimbabweans continued to challenge the fielding throughout the innings and the Pakistani youngsters were up to the task. Rizwan was again involved in the dismissal of Taibu when he went Superman to catch the former captain at cover point.
The Africans seemed doomed to another one of their characteristically sad performances but for the rescue act put on by Elton Chigumbura and Brendan Taylor. The two of them got together with their team down in the dumps at 67 for 5; and with in-form Sean Williams back in the pavilion, they really had an uphill climb. Both players handled the situation beautifully to put on a face saving 85 runs partnership and make sure that the bowlers had some chance of getting a favorable result. Much of the responsibility for this stand has to be dumped on the Pakistani bowlers.
Their inexperience cost them at least 75 runs which, luckily for them, did not have any serious repercussions. Though Abdur Rauf handled the new ball with good skill, he displayed the typically-Pakistani lack of discipline as he overstepped 6 times. With the free-hit rule in place, any other team would have made him pay dearly for such elementary errors. Wahab Riaz was a bit better as the first change and regularly missed the outside edge. Both of them were nicely supported by Rizwan and some other active legs in the field. After a long time Pakistan looked like a decent fielding unit.
The Pakistan batsmen made light work of the 182 run target set to them and ensured a clean sweep of the series. They did not even break into a sweat and reached home with only 3 hiccups and more than 19 overs to spare. It was a day of the debutantes as the last of the 4, Khurram Manzoor, also impressed as an opening batsmen and scored a half century. His 93 runs partnership with the senior Younis Khan was a treat to watch and the visitors were found lacking in all departments of the game, be it skill or stratagem. The hapless bowlers could only watch in misery as the Pakistani batsmen went about dismantling their attacks. It was apparent that Younis wanted to make a statement as he brought out his unorthodox side onto the display and bullied the already benumbed opposition. His 51 ball 63 run blitz earned him the player of the match. Shoaib Malik was the man of the series for his consistent showing with the bat as well as the ball.
The 5-0 clean sweep means that the Pakistan team is a happy bunch before they go into the series against the Australians next month. With all the controversy that surrounds them, such an unquestioned victory is sure to galvanize the players into a single fighting unit. Anything less than that means asking for trouble against the world champs. The decision to field new faces looks good on the surface but a stronger opposition would make matters more conclusive. In any case the youngsters are not proving their candidature just yet; they are covering for the rested seniors.
The Africans find themselves in a familiar spot and are yet to get rid of the whipping boy tag. It is indeed unfortunate for the game that they have not improved over the years to pose a bigger challenge. A sustained effort must be taken to weed out the volatility that plagues the team and may be we can see some hard fought games from them in the future.
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