Debutant Tinotenda Maposa backed his bowling figures of 1/12 with a match-winning cameo of 12 not out to power Zimbabwe to a thrilling two-wicket consolation victory in the final T20I of the three-match series here at Queens Sports Club on Thursday.
The home side had a flying start to the run chase as they were 73/1 in 9.3 overs with opening batter Brian Bennet and Dion Myers at the crease.
Emerging spinner Sufiyan Muqeem, however, provided the visitors with a vital breakthrough, dismissing set batter Bennet, who remained the top-scorer for Zimbabwe with a 35-ball 43, laced with seven boundaries including a six.
His dismissal sparked a middle-order collapse, which saw the home side slipping to 94/5 in 14 overs.
Skipper Sikandar Raza offered some resistance against a momentum-filled Pakistan’s bowling attack until his dismissal off Jahandad Khan in the 18th over.
Abbas Afridi, who returned brilliant figures of 3/23, inflicted another dent to Zimbabwe’s pursuit by getting rid of Wellington Masakadza (six).
The hosts then needed 12 off the final over with Maposa on strike.
The right-handed batter smashed Jahandad for a four and a six on the first two deliveries of the decisive over, which eventually proved enough to lead Zimbabwe to a narrow two-wicket victory.
Opting to bat first, the touring side could only accumulated 132/7 in the allotted 20 overs despite skipper Salman Ali Agha’s 32-run knock.
Pakistan had a dismal start to their innings as young opener Omair Bin Yousuf perished for a golden duck on the second delivery of the second over with just four runs on the board.
The green shirts lost two more wickets in quick succession and had consequently slipped to 19/3 in four overs.
Emerging middle-order batter Tayyab Tahir briefly bolstered the team’s total with a brisk cameo, which lasted in the eighth over with the scoreboard reading 52/4 in 7.4 overs.
Tahir struck two fours and a six on his way to a 14-ball 21.
Meanwhile, Pakistan captain Agha was involved in cautious partnerships with Qasim Akram (20) and Arafat Minhas before finally perishing in the 15th over.
Agha remained the top-scorer for Pakistan with a run-a-ball 32, which included three boundaries.
Minhas then joined hands with Abbas Afridi for an important 27-run partnership for the seventh wicket, which lasted with the latter’s dismissal in the penultimate over. Abbas scored 15 off 14.
Meanwhile, Minhas carried his bat with an unbeaten 22 off 26 deliveries, while Jahandad Khan made six not out.
For Zimbabwe, Muzarabani bagged two wickets, while Wellington Masakadza, Tinotenda Maposa, Richard Ngarava and Ryan Burl shared four wickets between them.
The two-wicket victory helped Zimbabwe avoid the clean sweep in the series, won by Pakistan 2-1.
