 Zimbabwe
have resumed playing test cricket after six years but they beat Bangladesh
in one off test series at the very first match.
Bangladesh is a minnow we all know that but after watching their first innings against Pakistan everyone was surprised as they managed to score staggering 412 runs which was initially thought more than enough to be a draw. But their second innings batting debacle brought a defeat of seven wickets before lunch on day five.
Click for Live Score Card of Zimbabwe Vs Pakistan
It is now time for ODI matches. Zimbabwe will be playing three ODI matches against
Pakistan and first of them will be played on September 8 at Queens Sports Club
in Bulawayo at 12:30 IST or 7:00 GMT where the test match also took place.
Zimbabwe will try to forget the memory of test match as early as possible. On
the other hand, Pakistan will take the test match as a source of great inspiration
because their selectors have experimented with many new faces and they didn't
prove them wrong.
Most of them clicked. Aizaz Cheema took 8 wickets in his first test
match which is the second best performance by a Pakistani debutant ever.
He can't ask for more present than a victory and brilliant performance as a debutant
on Day 5 which was his 32th birthday.
Other two new pacers Junaid Khan and Sohail Khan also proved that they
have talents. Pakistani chief selector marked this win as a "good team
work" but he also added that Zimbabwe are stronger team in shorter version
of the game while he expressed his feelings to the Dawn.
Head to Head:
Both teams have met 40 times before and Pakistan have 90% success rate. They beat
Zimbabwe 36 times and were beaten by them only twice.
Prediction:
Pakistan must white wash Zimbabwe otherwise they will not be able to hold their
ranking in 6th position. So, Pakistan must be desperate to win the match and Zimbabwe
will also try their best to beat Pakistan but surely it is not going to be easy.
However, Wasim Akram had been a tad sceptical about the way Pakistan would
go about in the ODIs especially with the young team that they have. What the
side would look at is contributions from these young bowlers to go with the
likes of Mohammad Hafeez and Saeed Ajmal getting the wickets in
the middle of the innings.
Zimbabwe will take on Pakistan in the first of the three ODIs at Bulawayo.
Zimbabwe will need to get their A game out in order to ensure that they will be
able to get going in the ODI series.
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