Pakistan punched Zimbabwe – 2nd ODI

Pakistan 4-299 (Mohammad Hafeez 136*, Misbah-ul-Haq 59, Shahid Afridi 39*, Brian Vitori 2-68) beat Zimbabwe 209 (Brendan Taylor 79, Malcolm Waller 40, Junaid Khan 4-15) by 90 runs.

A dashing hundred from the top order batsman, Mohammed Hafeez, followed by a lethal fast bowling by Junaid Khan put Pakistan on top vs. the hosts Zimbabwe.

Pakistan blasted 299 runs for the loss of just four wickets in the allotted 50 overs whereas Zimbabwe was bowled out for 209 with 44 balls to spare.

Mohammad Hafeez (Pakistan) was declared ‘Player of the match’ for his outstanding unbeaten knock of 136 off 130 mere balls.

The second One Day International of the three match series was played on Thursday, August 29, 2013, at Harare Sports Club.

Earlier, Brendan Taylor, the captain of Zimbabwe, won the toss and put the visitors in to bat first. The Green Shirts lost Ahmed Shehzad early for just five as Mohammad Hafeez joined in with Nasir Jamshed. The runs started coming in with the assistance of continuous fours and Nasir Jamshed was declared leg before wicket off Prosper Utseya at 62 after scoring 32 runs. The skipper of Pakistan, Misbah-ul-Haq remained off colour and Mohammad Hafeez hit the first six of the match in the 19^th over. The latter was dropped at 30 two overs later and Misbah-ul-Haq became the next victim for just three runs.

Umar Amin Walked in next while Mohammad Hafeez reached his fifty in the 26^th over. The batsmen were unable to get any boundary in six over as Umar Amin hit two back to back fours in the 36^th one. Mohammad Hafeez kept on cruising at his end and Umar Amin attained his maiden ODI half century in the 40^th one. The second hundred of the innings was displayed on board in the next one and the fourth wicket was gone at 213 when Umar Amin was run out for 59 off 71 balls with 1 six and 5 fours. Shahid Afridi appeared in the middle next whereas Mohammad Hafeez thrashed his 6^th ODI century on the second ball of the 44^th over. The two batsmen toyed with the bowling of Zimbabwe and took the score to 299 after 50 overs. Mohammad Hafeez secured his end for 136 off 130 with 5 towering sixes and 9 fours as Shahid Afridi kept his wicket for 39 from 23 with 3 lofty sixes and 1 four.

Brian Vettori was the highest wicket taker with two whereas prosper Utseya held one.

Zimbabwe faced an early loss when Vusi Sibanda was gone for two runs as Brendan Taylor got together with Hamilton Masakadza. The first hit two consecutive fours in the 4^th over followed by 2 boundaries by Masakadza in the next one. The latter added another 3 fours in the coming overs but his stumps were destroyed by Junaid Khan at 42 at his personal score of 24. Timycen Maruma came in next, ran himself out for eight and was replaced by Sean Williams. Taylor was the most aggressive of the two whereas Williams carried on chipping the runs at his end. Brendan Taylor achieved his 27^th ODI fifty in the 23^rd over and was dropped at 53 by Saeed Ajmal on the second ball of the 26^th one and he hit two fours in the same over.

The fourth wicket partnership was broken at 135 when Sean Williams was smartly stumped by Sarfraz Ahmed off Saeed Ajmal for 37 off 38 with 4 fours. Malcolm Waller associated next with Taylor and they accumulated 17 runs in the next two overs with 3 fours. Waller got 4 more boundaries in the later overs, he enhanced the score to 200 in 38.3 overs and the complexion of the game changed instantly. Bendon Taylor was caught superbly by Mohammad Irfan at short fine leg off Saeed Ajmal for 79 from 95 deliveries with 1 six and 6 fours on the last ball of the 39^th over.

Junaid Khan was introduced in the next one and he got rid of the well settled Marlon Waller for 40 off 42 with 6 fours and Elton Chigumbura went without scoring. The tail was folded back in no time and the entire Zimbabwe team was sent back to the dressing room for 209 in 42.4 overs.

Junaid Khan was the star performer with four wickets, Abdur Rehman and Saeed Ajmal shared two each whereas Mohammad Irfan claimed one wicket.

Pakistan triumphed in the second One Day International by a big margin of 90 runs and levelled the series at 1-1. The third and final game will be held at the same venue on August 31, 2013.