Pakistan began their campaign in the T20 tri-nations series on a winning note against Zimbabwe on Tuesday, November 18, successfully chasing down the target of 148. However, the chase wasn't all hunky-dory for the hosts, as Zimbabwe pegged them back early, reducing them to 3/30. It required a combined effort from the trio of Fakhar Zaman, Usman Khan, and Mohammad Nawaz to drag Pakistan out of the hole and ensure that the hosts ended up on the right side of the result, albeit in the final over of the game.
Brad Evans was the wrecker-in-chief for Zimbabwe early on in the powerplay, dismissing Sahibzada Farhan and Babar Azam in the same over. While Farhan snailed to a run-a-ball 16, Babar was removed for a three-ball duck. It was the third duck for Babar in the last six innings and even though the century came in the ODI, the former Pakistan captain would be disappointed that he couldn't take the momentum from the 50-over series into the tri-series.
It was the ninth duck for Babar in T20Is, which is the second most for Pakistan in the format, with Saim Ayub being tied at the top with Umar Akmal, having been dismissed for a duck on 10 occasions in the format. Babar surpassed the former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi on the list, who has eight ducks against his name in T20Is.
Most ducks for Pakistan in T20Is
10 - Saim Ayub (50 innings)
10 - Umar Akmal (79 innings)
9 - Babar Azam (125 innings)
8 - Shahid Afridi (90 innings)
7 - Kamran Akmal (53 innings)
7 - Mohammad Hafeez (108 innings)
7 - Mohammad Nawaz (58 innings)
Pakistan lost a couple of more wickets before the halfway mark, with Graeme Cremer, returning to the fold after a gap of seven years, accounting for Ayub's wicket, while Tinotenda Maposa got rid of the skipper Salman Agha, before Zaman and Usman Khan got the partnership going.
Both Fakhar Zaman and Usman kept getting the boundaries to put pressure on Zimbabwe while building a partnership. The 61-run partnership for the fifth wicket got Pakistan back in the game, before Usman and Nawaz finished it off.
Earlier, it was the combined bowling effort of the Pakistan bowlers that helped their side restrict Bangladesh to a chaseable score of 147.
