Tayyab leads Pak to victory

Tayyab Tahir's unbeaten 39-run knock, followed by a combined bowling effort, steered Pakistan to a commanding 57-run victory over Zimbabwe in the first T20I of the three-match series here at Queens Sports Club on Sunday.

Chasing a daunting total, Zimbabwe's batting unit unfolded on a meagre 108 in the 15.3 overs despite brisk knocks by skipper Sikandar Raza and opener Tadiwanashe Marumani.

The home side had a shaky start to the pursuit as they lost two wickets inside three overs with just 18 runs on the board.

But, a quickfire knock by Marumani had kept Zimbabwe on track until his agonizing dismissal in the ninth over.

He scored 33 off just 20 balls, laced with four fours and a six.

His dismissal opened the floodgates as the home side slipped from 77/2 to 108 all out despite a gutsy 39-run knock by Raza during the collapse.

For Pakistan, Abrar Ahmed and Sufiyan Muqeem claimed three wickets each, followed by Haris Rauf with two, while Jahandad Khan chipped in with one scalp.

Opting to bat first, Pakistan got off to an unwanted start to their innings as they lost young opener Omair Bin Yousuf, who showed signs of command before falling victim to Richard Ngarava in the third over after scoring 16 off 13 deliveries with the help of two boundaries including a six.

Walking out to bat at number three, Usman Khan took the reins of Pakistan's batting expedition with a defiant knock.

He was also involved in two crucial partnerships with Saim Ayub (24) and Salman Ali Agha before finally perishing in the 13th over with 91 runs on the board.

The right-handed batter remained the joint top-scorer for Pakistan with a 30-ball 39, studded with two fours and as many sixes.

Following his dismissal, Sikandar Raza reduced Pakistan to 100/4 in 14.2 overs by getting rid of Agha, who played a scratchy 13 from 19 balls.

After their departure, Tayyab and Muhammad Irfan Khan registered an unbeaten 65-run partnership to push their team's total past the 160-run mark.

Tayyab struck five boundaries including a six on his way to an unbeaten 35 off 29 deliveries, while Irfan made 27 not out from 15 balls.

For Zimbabwe, Ngarava, Masakadza, Raza and Ryan Burl made one scalp each.

Earlier, captain Agha Salman said, "We just want to put good total on the board. At second time, it could get slower and lower."

While Pakistan did not hand out any debuts, it was a new-look side. Omair Yousuf, Tayyab Tahir, Irfan Khan and Sufiyan Muqeem all play, while Saim Ayub returned at the top of the order.

Zimbabwe were in good form in this format, having won all their games in the regional qualifier in October, but they face a higher class of opposition now.

"We've played a lot of T20 cricket in the past few months," said captain Sikandar Raza. "ODI cricket we played after nine months, but we played T20 cricket consistently and have been producing fantastic results for the country so we are looking forward to have another good game of T20 cricket."

Ryan Burl and Wellingston Masakadza, missing from the ODI series, came back into the side.

Zimbabwe: 1 Tadiwanashe Marumani (wk), 2 Brian Bennett, 3 Dion Myers, 4 Sikandar Raza (capt), 5 Ryan Burl, 6 Clive Madande, 7 Tashinga Musekiwa, 8 Wellington Masakadza, 9 Richard Ngarava, 10 Blessing Muzarabani, 11 Trevor Gwandu

Pakistan: 1 Saim Ayub, 2 Tayyab Tahir, 3 Omair Yousuf, 4 Usman Khan (wk) 5, Salman Agha (capt), 6 Irfan Khan, 7 Jahandad Khan, 8 Abbas Afridi, 9 Abrar Ahmed, 10 Haris Rauf, 11 Sufiyan Muqeem.