Pakistan opened their World Cup account eventually after defeating Zimbabwe by 20 runs at Gabba in Brisbane on Sunday.
Batting first Pakistan put up an unconvincing target of 236 after getting restricted to four runs 2 for 4 runs in the fourth over. Led by some patient batting from captain Mizbah-ul-Haq, who made 73, Pakistan recovered from losing their first two wickets for just four runs to post 235 for seven from their 50 overs.
Zimbabwe was comfortably placed on 4 for 150 runs before they got dismissed for 215 runs off 49.4 overs.
The tall broad-shouldered paceman Mohammed Irfan’s figure of 4 for 30 made life difficult for the upbeat Zimbabwe batsmen. Earlier on, he removed the two openers cheaply to give Pak an important edge in the second innings.
After striking a 47-ball-56, Wahab Riaz joined Irfan in derailing Zimbabwe’s chase. Riaz struck four times and picked up the Man-of-the-Match.
Brendan Taylor and Sean Williams gave direction to the Zimbabwean chase by putting on 54 runs in quick time. But man of the moment, Riaz struck on the right time after plucking the price scalp of Taylor after he reached his half-century.
Hamilton Masakadza (29) and Brendan Taylor saw off Irfan and settled the Zimbabwe innings, adding 52 runs without trouble.
However, Misbah brought Irfan back after 21 overs with immediate dividends, Masakadza skying an attempted pull shot to the captain at midwicket
However, when they lost Williams for 33 after he hit Rahat Ali straight to Ahmad Shahzad at backward point with the score on 150 the run chase began to fall away.
Irfan then had Solomon Mire caught behind to leave Zimbabwe 166-6, still 70 runs short of victory with 13 overs remaining.
Skipper Elton Chigumbura, who tore the quadriceps in his left leg while fielding, was clearly hampered with his running between the wickets and the required run rate began to climb steadily.
Craig Ervine (14) and Tawanda Mupawira both perished caught behind off Riaz with the score on 168 and despite a late flourish from Chigumbura (35), Zimbabwe struggled to lay bat to ball in the closing overs.
Earlier, Pakistan recovered from another terrible start to post a competitive 235-7, thanks largely to Misbah and a whirlwind 54 off 46 balls from Riaz.
Misbah strode to the crease with his side in desperate trouble at 4-2 at the end of the fourth over and was out 121 balls later in the 47th with Pakistan 202-7.
Riaz struck his maiden half century at the end of the innings to lift Pakistan, who struggled throughout their 50 overs against a spirited Zimbabwe attack.
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