Buoyant Pakistan eye first ODI series triumph in 17 months

KARACHI: Pakistan hammered 375 runs on a flat Qaddafi wicket but still faced some anxious moments before sealing a 41-run win in their opening One-day International against Zimbabwe on Tuesday.
The hosts will now be looking to raise their game in the second game of what is Pakistan’s first series on home soil in six years in a bid to register a rare achievement.
The Pakistanis have not won an ODI series in 17 months and victory today will help them end that drought.
Things seem to be going their way ahead of Friday’s game.
Pakistan’s batting has improved and the fact that Zimbabwe would be without their in-form captain Elton Chigumbura should further enhance their chances of recording an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match contest.
Chigumbura, who hit a superb hundred in Zimbabwe’s big-hearted run-chase on Tuesday, has been suspended for two-match because of his team’s slow over-rate.
Pakistan’s last one-day series triumph came against Sri Lanka in the UAE in February 2014 – a win that was followed by a five-series losing streak.
Having won the first of three-matches by 41 runs in Lahore on Tuesday, skipper Azhar Ali declared that Pakistan would take advantage of Chigumbura’s absence after the visiting skipper struck 117 of 95 balls but was slapped with a two-match ban for a slow-over rate.
“I think Elton was in great form,” said Ali of his counterpart who fell three overs short in the regulated time on Tuesday.
“He (Chigumbura) was their captain as well so it’s a big loss for Zimbabwe, obviously as an opponent we wanted a full Zimbabwe side but it’s an advantage for us and we would like to capitalise on it.”
Pakistan posted 375-3 — their highest total against Zimbabwe in all one-day matches — before leaking 334-5 on Tuesday, a concern for Ali.
“Our batting is doing very well but pitches are very good for batting so sometimes it gets tough for bowlers and we need improvement in that area,” he said.
Opener Hamilton Masakadza, who will now lead Zimbabwe, hoped his side would be able to overcome the loss of Chigumbura as well as middle-order batsman Craig Ervine.
Ervine missed both the Twenty20 matches due to flu before injuring his hamstring in the ODI.
“Obviously it’s a big blow on both fronts, in terms of the way he’s been batting and also in terms of his leadership out there on the field,” Masakadza said.
“But what’s being done is done, we have to move on from here and hopefully the guys sitting out step up and fill in his shoes,” added Masakdza, who has previously captained in seven matches but lost all of them.
“Obviously we haven’t played that bad cricket, we’ve got into good positions at times so it’s just a matter of working to make sure we get into the same positions but making sure we try and follow through with better results,” he added.
Zimbabwe is the first Test playing country to tour Pakistan in six years following the suspension of international cricket in the country in the wake of the 2009 attacks on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore.
The series is being played under massive security with 4,000 policemen deployed in and around the Gaddafi Stadium.