Pakistan remained unbeaten in T20s against Zimbabwe as they warmed up for the arrival of England with a 13-run victory in Harare courtesy of a devastating spell from Imad Wasim.

The left-arm spinner took 4-11 from his four overs to reduce the hosts to 66-5, a position they never recovered from in pursuit of 137 for victory.

Earlier in the day, 3-18 from Chamu Chibhabha had reduced Pakistan to 136-8, Shoaib Malik (35) and Mohammad Rizwan (33*) the pick of the visitors’ batsmen.

And Zimbabwean all-rounder Chibhabha has challenged his side to get over the line in the remaining games, one other T20 and three ODIs, after a number of near misses in recent times.

"There are so many ways you can look at it, but a lot of us got out to soft dismissals," Chibhabha said.

"We took the wrong options at the wrong time, and as a result we lost the game. I'm not going to sit here and make excuses, at the end of the day we were chasing 137 and, despite how well they bowled and how well their spinner bowled, it's just a score that you need to get. We were supposed to get that score, with the kind of players we have.

"Everyone is hurting. We want to improve quickly. We don't want to be the same sort of players that always get close but don't win matches. When we played the first match against India, we lost by three or four runs. Today we lost by 13 runs. It's not good enough. It's time to start winning games, especially when you get opportunities like this.

"Moving forward, it's not every day that you get to chase 137 in a T20 game against Pakistan. It's really disappointing from us as players, especially the batting unit. If you want to win games, we have to execute."

Pakistan’s decision to bat at the start of the day backfired early on as the medium-pace of Chibhabha accounted for the top three with just 29 on the board.

Malik and Umar Akmal rescued the early wobble but Zimbabwe would have had Pakistan 74-5 had Rizwan been stumped off Sean Williams, the right handed wicketkeeper making the hosts pay with his unbeaten 32-ball knock.

Zimbabwe’s reply stuttered as Wasim ripped through the top order, only Hamilton Maskadza (25) and captain Elton Chigumbura (31*) showing resistance, the hosts falling 13 runs short.

 

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