BRISBANE, (Reuters) – Mohammad Irfan extracted steep bounce from the Gabba pitch to pick up four wickets as Pakistan secured their first victory at the World Cup by beating Zimbabwe by 20 runs in their Pool B match yesterday.
Wahab Riaz also excelled with both bat and ball, scoring a crucial half-century and taking four wickets, as Zimbabwe were all out for 215 in the 50th over, chasing Pakistan’s 235-7.
It was Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq’s patient 73 and a quickfire unbeaten 54 from Riaz that gave the team, looking for their first win after defeats to India and West Indies, a total to defend after losing early wickets to paceman Tendai Chatara.
Zimbabwe openers Chamu Chibhabha (nine) and Sikandar Raza (eight) also found the going tough as both failed to manage rising balls from Irfan, who stands a lofty 2.16 metres (7-foot-1-inch) tall.
The left-armer returned in his later spells to also dismiss Hamilton Masakadza (29) and Solomon Mire (eight) to bag his best figures of 4-30 in ODI cricket.
Scoreboard
Pakistan Innings
- Jamshed c Raza b Chatara 1
- Shehzad c Taylor b Chatara 0
- Sohail c Williams b Raza 27
Misbah-ul-Haq c Williams b Chatara 73
- Akmal b Williams 33
- Afridi b Williams 0
- Maqsood c&b Mupariwa 21
- Riaz not out 54
So. Khan not out 6
Extras: (lb-3 w-17) 20
Total: (for 7 wickets, 50 overs) 235
Fall of wickets: 1-1 N. Jamshed,2-4 A. Shehzad,3-58 H. Sohail,4-127 U. Akmal,5-127 S. Afridi,6-155 S. Maqsood,7-202 Misbah-ul-Haq Did not bat: R. Ali, M. Irfan Bowling: T. Panyangara 10 – 1 – 49 – 0(w-2) T. Chatara 10 – 2 – 35 – 3(w-6) T. Mupariwa 8 – 1 – 36 – 1(w-3) S. Williams 10 – 1 – 48 – 2(w-1) H. Masakadza 3 – 0 – 14 – 0 E. Chigumbura 1 – 0 – 7 – 0(w-4) S. Raza 7 – 0 – 34 – 1 S. Mire 1 – 0 – 9 – 0(w-1)
Zimbabwe Innings
- Chibhabha c Sohail b Irfan 9
- Raza c Sohail b Irfan 8
- Masakadza c Misbah-ul-Haq b Irfan 29
- Taylor c U. Akmal b Riaz 50
- Williams c Shehzad b R. Ali 33
- Ervine c U. Akmal b Riaz 14
- Mire c U. Akmal b Irfan 8
- Chigumbura c U. Akmal b Riaz 35
- Mupariwa c U. Akmal b Riaz 0
- Panyangara run out (U. Akmal, Riaz) 10
- Chatara not out 0
Extras: (b-3 lb-2 nb-1 w-13) 19
Total: (all out, 49.4 overs) 215
Fall of wickets: 1-14 C. Chibhabha,2-22 S. Raza,3-74 H. Masakadza,4-128 B. Taylor,5-150 S. Williams,6-166 S. Mire,7-168 C. Ervine,8-168 T. Mupariwa,9-215 T. Panyangara,10-215 E. Chigumbura Bowling M. Irfan 10 – 2 – 30 – 4(w-3) So. Khan 10 – 0 – 45 – 0 R. Ali 10 – 0 – 37 – 1(nb-1 w-4) W. Riaz 9.4 – 1 – 45 – 4(w-2) S. Afridi 10 – 1 – 53 – 0
Referees Umpire: Richard Kettleborough Umpire: Joel Wilson TV umpire: Paul Reiffel Match referee: Jeff Crowe
Result: Pakistan won by 20 runs
