Zimbabwe set Pakistan a target of 157 in first T20I
The Green Shirts triumphed thrice in their last five T20Is.
RAWALPINDI (AFP) - Wesley Madhevere struck a maiden half-century to lead Zimbabwe to 156-6 in the first Twenty20 international in Rawalpindi on Saturday.
The 20-year-old right-hander struck 48-ball 70 not out with nine boundaries and a six after Zimbabwe won the toss and opted to bat at Rawalpindi stadium.
Madhevere, who had only four runs in his previous two Twenty20 appearances, added 34 runs for the sixth wicket with Elton Chigumbura who made a 13-ball 21 with a six and two boundaries.
For Pakistan, pacemen Haris Rauf and Wahab Riaz took two wickets apiece.
Pakistan gave a Twenty20 international debut to 27-year-old spinner Usman Qadir, son of the great Abdul Qadir, who died last year.
Earlier Zimbabwe on Saturday won the toss and decided to bat first in the first Twenty20 International (T20I) against Pakistan at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
Teams:
Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Rizwan, Khushdil Shah, Faheem Ashraf, Usman Qadir, Wahab Riaz, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain
Zimbabwe: Chamu Chibhabha (captain), Sikandar Raza, Ryan Burl, Tendai Chisoro, Tendai Chatara, Wesley Madhevere, Elton Chigumbura, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava, Brendan Taylor, Sean Williams
Pakistan lost the final one-day international (ODI) against Zimbabwe at the same venue earlier but managed to win the three-match series 2-1. The Green Shirts triumphed thrice in their last five T20Is while Zimbabwe lost three out of their last five encounters.
Pakistan Skipper Babar Azam said at the pre-series press conference, “We will try to play positive cricket in the series. We have got a good pool of players and will try to carry the good type of cricket in T20s that we played in the recently concluded ODI series against Zimbabwe. If you back your players then you get good performances.”
Zimbabwe Skipper Chamu Chibhabha said we want to be winning more matches so it doesn’t matter what format it is. It’s important whenever we go out there we play the brand of cricket which win us more matches, that’s the mentality, he said.
