Pakistan 6-260 (Misbah-ul-Haq 67, Ahmed Shehzad 54, Tendai Chatara 3-48) beat Zimbabwe 152 (Malcolm Waller 48, Brendan Taylor 26, Saeed Ajmal 2-15, Abdur Rehman 2-23) by 108 runs.
The visiting Pakistani squad well led by their skipper, Misbah-ul-Haq, assisted by Ahmed Shehzad and the bowlers let down the hosts Zimbabwe in the final ODI.
The Green Shirts amassed 260 for the loss of six wickets in the allocated 50 overs and the home side managed 152 runs before they were bowled out with 10 overs to spare.
Misbah-ul-Haq (Pakistan) was declared ‘Player of the match’ for his sensible knock of 67 runs.
Mohammad Hafeez (Pakistan) was announced ‘Player of the series’ for his outstanding all round performance.
The third and final One Day International was played on Saturday, August 31, 2013, at Harare Sports Club.
Earlier, Brendan Taylor, the captain of Zimbabwe, won the toss and once again invited Pakistan to bat first. Nasir Jamshed along with Ahmed Shehzad opened the innings in a slow mode by scoring 37 runs in 10 overs with two fours from each of them. Nasir Jamshed was dropped in the 12th over that turned into the first six of the innings and he became the first victim at 66 in 15.3 overs for 38 runs. Mohammad Hafeez came in next as the run rate was slowed down by the two batsmen and the first hit a four in the 22nd over. He walked off in the next over due to hamstring and was replaced by Misbah-ul-Haq who scored his first run on the 13th ball he faced.
Ahmed Shehzad reached his second ODI fifty and was caught by Sikandar Raza off Hamilton Masakadza for 54 from 85 balls with 3 fours. The second wicket fell at 119 as Umar Amin appeared in the park next and hit 2 fours in the 38th over. He was caught and bowled by Prosper Utseya for 33 while Misbah-ul-Haq got into his own with a little assistance from the other side. He dispatched 2 fours in the 44th over and attained his 31st ODI half century in the next one. Misbah-ul-Haq was caught by Sikandar Raza off Shingi Masakadza for 67 scored from 85 deliveries comprising 6 fours. Sarfraz Ahmed contributed 22 runs as the visitors hammered 260 in 50 overs with four wickets still in hand.
Tendai Chatar was the highest wicket taker with three whereas Shingi Masakadza, Prosper Utseya and Hamilton Masakadza shared one wicket each.
Zimbabwe lost their first wicket at 12 as Brendan Taylor joined in with Hamilton Masakadza. They added 11 runs in the 6th over with 2 fours and the latter hit 1 six and 1 four in the 10th one. Masakadza was caught behind by Sarfraz Ahmed off Abdur Rehman for 25 as the total touched 46. Brendan Taylor got another 3 fours in the coming overs but was unluckily run out for 26. The Green Shirt bowlers took over and penetrated through the middle order batting of the hosts who were reeling at 6-87 in 22.4 overs.
Malcolm Waller and Prosper Utseya associated next and stopped the invasion of the tourists with determination. They kept on creeping and took the score past the hundred runs mark during the 28th over. Waller was dropped at 34 by Mohammad Hafeez off Mohammad Irfan in the 35th over and the score was enhanced to 145 in 36.6 overs when Prosper Utseya was run out for 23. The late order batsmen surrender instantly and Malcolm Waller was the last batsman who went back to the pavilion for 48 off 71 with 4 fours. The entire innings of the Zimbabwe team was rolled back for 152 in 40 overs.
Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman and Mohammad Hafeez were the top wicket takers with two each whereas Shahid Afridi chipped in with one wicket.
Pakistan won the important encounter with a huge margin of 108 runs and grabbed the three match series 2-1.
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