Muqeem’s 5 for 3 spins Zimbabwe to a new low

Pakistan 61 for 0 (Ayub 36*, Yousuf 22*) beat Zimbabwe 57 (Muqeem 5-3, Afridi 2-2) by ten wickets

Sufiyan Muqeem spun a web around Zimbabwe in Bulawayo, registering the best figures by a Pakistan bowler in T20Is as his team crushed Zimbabwe by ten wickets to seal the T20I series.

Zimbabwe were skittled for 57, losing their ten wickets over a 20-run period as they fell to their lowest total in T20I cricket. In response, Pakistan coasted to the total with 14.3 overs to spare, marking the biggest win by balls remaining between two Full Members in men’s T20I cricket.

Zimbabwe start well, before collapsing

Difficult to believe in hindsight, but Zimbabwe got off to a flying start. Brian Bennett and Tadiwanashe Marumani took the attack to Jahandad Khan and Abrar Ahmed, blasting the ball through the infield with superb timing and power on what looked a cracking batting surface – when Sikandar Raza won the toss, he had no hesitation batting first.

Even Haris Rauf’s introduction didn’t stanch the bleeding, Bennett showing his deft skills and picking up two boundaries behind point on the off side. By the end of the fourth over, Zimbabwe sat pretty at 37 for 0.

But what happened after that was as dramatic as it was ignominious for Zimbabwe.

Abbas Afridi had Marumani slash one straight to cover-point, and once that wicket-maiden was complete, Rauf removed Bennett off the first ball of the next over. Zimbabwe needed to rebuild, but never came close to achieving a second wind. Seven balls later came the dagger blow as one snaked back in from Afridi and made a mess of Raza’s stumps.

When Salman Agha brought himself on, he had Dion Myers plumb in front off just his fourth delivery before Muqeem took over. Using the conventional wristspinner and the wrong’un, he had Zimbabwe’s lower-middle order on a string. Ryan Burl was fooled by a googly that struck his pad in front of middle, while Tashinga Musekiwa had no answer to another wrong’un that knocked back his stumps for a golden duck. Clive Madande survived the hat-trick ball, but Muqeem returned to remove another two in his following over, and eventually finished off the innings when Madande top-edged him. He finished with figures of 2.4-0-3-5.

Easy chase, easily done by Pakistan

There was nothing complicated about Pakistan’s chase, and the openers knew it.

Raza bowled the first over but Omair Yousuf took 11 off it to set the tone.

Saim Ayub got into the act with a lovely late adjustment that saw him carve Richard Ngarava over the slips for a boundary. Blessing Muzarabani’s poor series continued with both Ayub and Yousuf sending him to the fence, the latter scything him over deep point for six with a shot that oozed confidence.

Ayub wasn’t to be outdone, and there was time enough for his signature shot: a whip off Trevor Gwandu off the pads behind square leg for six. It was Muzarabani’s errant line once more that allowed Ayub to pick up two more boundaries that finished the game off.

It was telling of how little Zimbabwe had tested Pakistan that, on a blazing hot day in Bulawayo, when the openers took their helmets off and shook hands, there was barely a bead of sweat on their foreheads.