Sealed with a six: Zimbabwe hand Pakistan shock defeat after 15 years

Opener Hamilton Masakadza awarded Man of the Match for 85.

HARARE: Zimbabwe chased down 245 at the loss of just three wickets to complete a historic victory against Pakistan in the first One Day International between the two countries being played here in Harare, on Tuesday.

This is the first time in 15 years that Zimbabwe has beaten Pakistan in an ODI. Their last win came in a 1998 game played at Sheikhupura.

After Pakistan set them a target of 245, Zimbabwe's openers Hamilton Masakadza and Vusi Sibanda opened in commanding fashion to establish a century partnership.

Masakadza, who was awarded Man of the Match, helped his team with a champion 85, an innings featuring nine fours and one six. After he got out, Zimbabwe seemed to face a tricky final few overs, but an aggressive Sean Williams and skipper Brendan Taylor saw their team safely to the end.

The Pakistani bowlers seemed clueless throughout. They were struck freely all over the ground before Saeed Ajmal finally grabbed the first wicket in the 24th over.

With the rest of the attack seemingly out of answers against the batsman, it was Ajmal again to dismiss Masakadza with Zimbabwe at 176.

It was too late, though, and Pakistan never quite managed to stem the runs at any point in the innings.

As victory appeared within a hand's reach, the talented Sean Williams hit a six off Mohammad Irfan in the penultimate over to seal a historic victory for his team.

Earlier, Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first.

A topsy-turvy innings saw Zimbabwe miss five chances in the field but still hold Pakistan to 244 for seven - a decent but achievable score on a dry Harare Sports Club surface.

Misbah shared in a 99-run stand for the third wicket with Mohammad Hafeez, who made 70, and finished unbeaten on 83 after holding the innings together as Pakistan's middle and lower order failed to fire.

It could have been far worse for the tourists had Zimbabwe held their catches - both Nasir Jamshed and Ahmed Shehzad were put down during an opening partnership of 56, while Hafeez was let off on 10 and 55.

Misbah required no such luck in a well-paced knock that saw him go to fifty in 62 balls before opening up towards the end, and his two sixes off Tinashe Panyangara in the final over of the innings ensured that Pakistan had something to bowl at.

Panyangara had been the pick of the Zimbabwean bowlers up until that point, and would have reaped better figures than his none for 38 had it not been for Zimbabwe's poor catching.

Tendai Chatara was more fortunate in that regard, and took 2 for 32 in his 10 overs.

Earlier, Pakistan beat Zimbabwe by 19 runs in the second Twenty20 match on August 24th and clinched the two match series 2-0.

Zimbabwe team

V Sibanda, H Masakadza, BRM Taylor, SC Williams, T Maruma, MN Waller, E Chigumbura, P Utseya, T Panyangara, TL Chatara, BV Vitori

Pakistan team

Nasir Jamshed, Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Umar Amin, Misbahul Haq, Sarfraz Ahmed, Shahid Afridi, Haris Sohail, Junaid Khan, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Irfan