Pakistan vs Zimbabwe (Pallekele) (14th March)

ICC World Cup 2011 – 14^th March

33^rd Match – Group A     (day/night 50-over match)

Played at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy,

Pakistan won by 7 wickets (with 23 balls remaining) (D/L method);

Zimbabwe won the toss and decided to bat first;

Scoreboard:

Zimbabwe            151/7    (39.4/39.4 over)

Zimbabwe Innings	39.4 over maximum	R	B	4s	6s	S/R
BRM Taylor	c †Kamran Akmal b Abdul Razzaq	4	5	1	0	80.00
RW Chakabva	lbw b Umar Gul	0	6	0	0	0.00
T Taibu†	c Shahid Afridi b Wahab Riaz	19	29	2	0	65.51
V Sibanda	c Misbah-ul-Haq b Umar Gul	5	11	1	0	45.45
CR Ervine	b Mohammad Hafeez	52	82	5	0	63.41
GA Lamb	c & b Shahid Afridi	16	28	1	0	57.14
E Chigumbura*	not out	32	46	2	0	69.56
P Utseya	c †Kamran Akmal b Umar Gul	18	32	0	0	56.25
Extras	(lb 2, w 2, nb 1)	5

Total (7 wickets; 39.4 over) 151 (3.80 runs per over)

Did not bat:

AG Cremer, SW Masakadza, RW Price

Fall of wickets:

1-5 (Taylor, 0.5 over), 2-5 (Chakabva, 1.6 over), 3-13 (Sibanda, 5.2 over), 4-43 (Taibu, 12.4 over), 5-84 (Lamb, 23.5 over), 6-103 (Ervine, 29.3 over), 7-151 (Utseya, 39.4 over)

Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ.
Abdul Razzaq	7	1	24	1	3.42	(1w)
Umar Gul	7.4	1	36	3	4.69	(1nb)
Wahab Riaz	6	0	21	1	3.50
Shahid Afridi	8	0	33	1	4.12
Abdur Rehman	8	1	24	0	3.00	(1w)
Mohammad Hafeez	3	0	11	1	3.66

Pakistan            164/3    (34.1 over)    (won by 7 wickets)

Pakistan Innings	(target: 162 runs from 38 overs)	R	B	4s	6s	S/R
Mohammad Hafeez	c Price b Utseya	49	65	6	0	75.38
Ahmed Shehzad	st †Taibu b Price	8	11	2	0	72.72
Asad Shafiq	not out	78	97	7	0	80.41
Shahid Afridi*	b Price	3	4	0	0	75.00
Younis Khan	not out	13	28	0	0	46.42
Extras	(w 13)	13

Total (3 wickets; 34.1 over) 164 (4.80 runs per over)

Did not bat:

Misbah-ul-Haq, Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal†, Abdur Rehman, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz

Fall of wickets:

1-17 (Ahmed Shehzad, 3.4 over), 2-99 (Mohammad Hafeez, 22.2 over), 3-110 (Shahid Afridi, 23.3 over)

Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ.
SW Masakadza	6	1	44	0	7.33	(5w)
RW Price	8	1	21	2	2.62	(3w)
P Utseya	7	1	24	1	3.42
GA Lamb	7	0	44	0	6.28
AG Cremer	6.1	0	31	0	5.02	(1w)

Player of the match:    Umar Gul (Pakistan)

Umpires:        AL Hill (New Zealand) and NJ Llong (England)

TV umpire:        M Erasmus (South Africa)

Pakistan sealed a seven-wicket victory over Zimbabwe by duck/Levis method as huge downpours spread over Pallekele in the late afternoon. Zimbabwe skipper preferred to bat first with the damp pitch and heavy cloud conditions, but Pakistan bowlers boomed in the helpful conditions to secure their win as they succeeded for quarter finals.

Pakistan middle order batsman, Asad Shafiq, who was continuously making practice in Kandy as Umar Akmal suffered from finger injury, played an unbeaten innings of 78 in his first World Cup match. Shoaib Akhtar was dropped after his shambolic performance in the last game and having struggled for new-ball scalps through the tournament. Only Craig Ervine was the Zimbabwean batsman who scored fifty under difficult conditions for batting. Umar Gul was titled for Player of the Match; Pakistan will play their final group match against Australia in Colombo on Saturday.