Bulawayo (Zimbabwe): On one hand, the auction of the world's biggest cricket league, the Indian Premier League, was going on in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and money was being showered on players from all over the world, while on the other hand, the Pakistan cricket team was feeling embarrassed in Zimbabwe. All-rounder Sikandar Raza's brilliant performance helped Zimbabwe cause an upset by defeating the new-look Pakistani team by 80 runs using the Duckworth-Lewis method in the rain-affected first One Day International. Zimbabwe has defeated Pakistan in ODI for the first time since October 3, 2015. Pakistani-origin Raza played an important inning of 39 runs and helped Zimbabwe reach 205 runs from 125 runs for seven wickets. He along with number 9 batsman Richard Nagarava made a partnership of 62 runs for the 8th wicket. Richard scored the highest 48 runs. Raza (two wickets for seven runs) then took two wickets in one over due to which Pakistan team was in trouble at 60 runs for six wickets in 21 overs.
Rain then came and the match could not be played, giving Zimbabwe a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series. As an experiment, Pakistan rested its top batsman Babar Azam in ODIs for the first time since 2019 to test its 'bench strength' before next year's Champions Trophy. After the ODI series, three T20 matches will also be played in Bulawayo.
It is noteworthy that Zimbabwe succeeded in defeating Pakistan for the 5th time in ODI history. When the match was stopped due to rain, Pakistan had lost 6 wickets for just 60 runs. Mohammad Rizwan was playing after scoring 19 runs, but it is difficult to say how far he would have taken the team. Even if it had not rained, he would hardly have won.
Rain then came and the match could not be played, giving Zimbabwe a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series. As an experiment, Pakistan rested its top batsman Babar Azam in ODIs for the first time since 2019 to test its 'bench strength' before next year's Champions Trophy. After the ODI series, three T20 matches will also be played in Bulawayo.
It is noteworthy that Zimbabwe succeeded in defeating Pakistan for the 5th time in ODI history. When the match was stopped due to rain, Pakistan had lost 6 wickets for just 60 runs. Mohammad Rizwan was playing after scoring 19 runs, but it is difficult to say how far he would have taken the team. Even if it had not rained, he would hardly have won.
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