Riaz a fourth wicket.
A tall target looked well beyond Pakistan when Zimbabwe’s seamers reduced them to 56 for five, and after Graeme Cremer removed Mohammad Rizwan to make that 76 for six, the game appeared to be up.
However Malik and Aamer Yamin counter-attacked in a brilliant 111-run stand for the seventh wicket, with the pair riding their luck as Zimbabwe dropped a series of catches.
Chigumbura appeared to have settled the game once more when he had Yamin strangled down the leg side for 62 and then ran out Riaz, but Malik continued to hammer away and enjoyed the support of Yasir Shah’s unbeaten 32 from 22 balls.
Pakistan looked likely to get over the line with 21 needed from the final two overs, but the fading light had the final say.
“It was a lovely game,” said Pakistan captain Azhar Ali. “Malik and Yamin made us come back when it looked like a one-sided game.
“Zimbabwe played really well - we could have restricted them to under 250 but they played well at the end. We lost too many wickets at the start of our innings.”
Score Board
Pakistan won toss
Zimbabwe
H Masakadza c Irfan b Wahab 7
C J Chibhabha c Sarfraz b Wahab 90
B B Chari c Hafeez b Irfan 39
S C Williams c Hafeez b Wahab 10
*E Chigumbura hit wicket b Wahab 67
S Raza c Sarfraz b Aamer 32
†R Mutumbami not out 14
L M Jongwe not out 4
Extras (b 2, lb 1, w 9, nb 1) 13
Total (6 wickets; 50 overs) 276
Did not bat: A G Cremer, T Panyangara, J Nyumbu
Fall: 1-27, 2-118, 3-132, 4-191, 5-253, 6-267
Bowling: Irfan 10-1-47-1 (2w); Aamer 5-0-38-1 (1nb, 2w); Wahab 10-1-63-4 (1w); Yasir 6-0-30-0 (1w); Bilal 8-0-39-0 (1w); Azhar 4-0-22-0; Shoaib 7-0-34-0
Pakistan
*Azhar Ali b Panyangara 1
Bilal Asif c Chigumbura b Panyangara 0
M Hafeez run out 27
Asad Shafiq c Mutumbami b Jongwe 1
Shoaib Malik not out 96
†Sarfraz Ahmed c Williams b Chibhabha 9
M Rizwan c Nyumbu b Cremer 8
Aamer Yamin c Mutumbami b Chigumbura 62
Wahab Riaz run out 3
Yasir Shah not out 32
Extras (b 4, w 12, nb 1) 17
Total (8 wickets; 48 overs) 256
Did not bat: M Irfan
Fall: 1-2, 2-8, 3-17, 4-40, 5-56, 6-76, 7-187, 8-193
Bowling: Panyangara 9-0-44-2 (2w); Jongwe 8-1-41-1 (1w); Williams 10-0-33-0; Chibhabha 8-0-55-1 (1nb, 1w); Cremer 1.4-0-8-1; Nyumbu 6.2-0-38-0 (3w); Chigumbura 5-0-33-1 (2w)
Result: Zimbabwe won by 5 runs (D/L method)
Series: 3-match series levelled by 1-1
ODI debut: Bilal Asif (Pakistan)
Man of the Match: E Chigumbura
Umpires: T J Matibiri and R S A Palliyaguruge (Sri Lanka). TV umpire: L Rusere. Match referee: D T Jukes (England)