{ "id": "7718", "author": "13", "cnmid": "0", "title": "Pakistan scrape past Zimbabwe in first World Cup win ", "lang": "en", "series": "7", "cup_year": "2015", "article_type": "General", "excerpt": "Brisbane, March 1 (IANS) Despite a spirited fight by Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura (35), Pakistan managed their first World Cup Pool B win -- by 20 runs -- at the Gabba here Sunday.\r\n", "subtype": "", "editor1": "

Brisbane, March 1 (IANS) Despite a spirited fight by Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura (35), Pakistan managed their first World Cup Pool B win -- by 20 runs -- at the Gabba here Sunday.
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\r\nAfter an extremely slow start, Pakistan managed to reach 235\/7 thanks to Man-of-the-Match Wahab Riaz’s (54 not out) first One-Day International (ODI) half-century.
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\r\nZimbabwe looked well on course while chasing. But Pakistan’s pace bowling quartet, especially Riaz (4\/45) and Mohammad Irfan (4\/30), chipped away wickets at critical junctures to help the 1992 edition champions bowl Zimbabwe out for 215 with two balls to spare.
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\r\nZimbabwe needed the likes of Hamilton Masakadza (29), Brendan Taylor (50) and Sean Williams (33) to take them home but it was not to be.
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\r\nChasing a target of 236, Zimbabwe lost openers Chamu Chibhabha (9) and Sikandar Raza (8) early. But Masakadza and wicketkeeper Taylor, who scored his 31st ODI half-century, kept knocking around. 
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\r\nHowever, from a very comfortable 150\/4, Zimbabwe lost four wickets in a span of 18 runs which turned the match in favour of Pakistan. 
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\r\nSkipper Chigumbura, however, looked like he would steer the Africans home with Tineshe Panyangara (10) by his side. They struck a crucial 47-run ninth-wicket partnership. 
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\r\nWith 34 required from four overs and a steady partnership at hand, it looked like Zimbabwe will make it. But a special maiden over by birthday boy Shahid Afridi turned the tables as the score became 34 off 18.
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\r\nThereon, the Pakistani pacers bowled beautifully to snatch the game away. The Zimbabwean pair got out in the last over in a desperate dash to score.
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\r\nEarlier, considering the slow start that Pakistan got after winning the toss, 235 was a competitive total on a slow Gabba wicket. Zimbabwe bowlers were brilliant to begin with. 
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\r\nThey took two early wickets. Openers Nasir Jamshed (1) and Ahmed Shehzad (0) were bowled out with Pakistan tottering at 4\/2. 
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\r\nZimbabwe restricted Pakistan to 14\/2 in 10 overs. Though Pakistan didn't lose any wicket in the next five overs, they were not able to score freely. 
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\r\nThey managed 33\/2 at the end of the 15th over -- the lowest 15-over total of this World Cup.
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\r\nThings did not improve for Pakistan as they reached 127\/5 in the 34th over. But a quick knock off 46 balls by Riaz towards the end of the innings helped Pakistan cross the 200-run mark.
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\r\nSkipper Misbah-ul-Haq was instrumental in playing the anchor’s innings. He scored a patient 73 from 121 balls.
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\r\nComing to the middle in the fourth over, he remained till the 47th over to compile his 40th half-century. 
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\r\nThough Pakistani batsmen kept getting out at the other end, Misbah was in the middle for three hours and 11 minutes. 
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\r\nLeft-hander Haris Sohail (27), wicketkeeper-batsman Umar Akmal (33) and Sohaib Maqsood (21) also played small cameos to take Pakistan past 200. 
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\r\nZimbabwe bowler Tendai Chatara's figures read 10-2-35-3. He would have bagged a couple of more wickets had the fielders not dropped some sitters at the fag end of the innings. 
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\r\nLeft-arm spinner Sean Williams (2\/48) picked up a couple of wickets while Tawanda Mupariwa (1\/36) clinched one. Tinashe Panyangara was economical at the start but was hit for runs in the death overs. 
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\r\nBrief scores: Pakistan 235\/7 in 50 overs (Misbah ul Haq 73, Wahab Riaz 54 not out, Umar Akmal 33; Tendai Chatara 3\/35, Sean Williams 2\/48) vs Zimbabwe 215 all out in 49.4 overs (Brendan Taylor 50, Elton Chigumbura 35, Sean Williams 33; Mohammed Irfan 4\/40, Wahab Riaz 4\/45). Pakistan win by 20 runs. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n", "image": "https:\/\/img.cricketnmore.com\/uploads\/2015\/03\/wahab-riaz.jpg", "alt_img": "Wahab Riaz", "alt_title": "World Cup 2015", "image1": "", "video": "", "seo_title": "Pakistan scrape past Zimbabwe in first World Cup win ", "seo_desc": "Pakistan beat Zimbabwe by 20 runs in World Cup 2015", "seo_keywords": "Wahab Riaz, Pakistan vs Zimbabwe", "tag": "", "tagging": "", "status": "1", "img_rpt": "0", "google": "0", "standout": "0", "edapps": "0", "pulse": "0", "no_index": "0", "feed": "0", "fixture": "0", "slug": "pakistan-beat-zimbabwe-by-20-runs-in-world-cup-2015", "user_id": "0", "read_count": "0", "ians_date": "0000-00-00", "ians_time": "00:00:00", "server_time": "0000-00-00 00:00:00", "trash": "0", "view_count": "4525", "page_break": "0", "instant_articles": "0", "auto_link": "0", "created": "2015-03-01 13:04:00", "updated": "2015-03-01 13:04:00", "img_from": "", "img_source": "", "schedule_publish": "0000-00-00 00:00:00", "news_keywords": null, "livescore_text": null, "livescore_link": null, "btn_text": null, "resend_feed": "0", "google_feed": "0", "read_more": "0", "posted_by": "1", "jio_date": "2015-03-01 13:04:00", "scheduled": "0", "news_now": "1", "breaking_news": "0", "google_date": "2015-03-01 13:04:00", "featured": "0", "pred_match_id": null, "article_content_type": null, "link": "https:\/\/www.cricketnmore.com\/cricket-news\/pakistan-beat-zimbabwe-by-20-runs-in-world-cup-2015-7718" }