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Fakhar Zaman prepares to belt the ball — AFP

Bongani Ndlovu, Sports Correspondent
Pakistan 195 for 1 (Zaman 117*, Imam 44) beat Zimbabwe 194 (Masakadza 59, Moor 50, Usman 4-36) by nine wickets

NEVER broke a sweat! This best describes Pakistan’s nine-wicket victory against Zimbabwe with top order left-arm batsman Fakhar Zaman’s unbeaten 117* giving the visitors a 2-0 lead in the five-match one-day international at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo.

Pakistan wrapped up the match with 14 overs to spare and at no juncture in the match did Zimbabwe show any anger with the ball or bat.

Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat, perhaps as a change of strategy against the backdrop of that catastrophic first game when Pakistan accumulated 309 runs when sent in to bat.

Although Zimbabwe’s score of 194 yesterday was an improvement from the 107 they were bundled out for last Friday, it was not much of a target to set for the hard hitting visitors’ batsmen.

Skipper Hamilton Masakadza improved with the bat, top scoring for the hosts with 59, but the demons of giving away his wicket cheaply continued to haunt him. Peter Joseph Moor also tried with a gutsy 50, but like his captain, could not see out the innings.

Man-of-the-match Zaman’s career high 117* was a wonder to watch, as he chipped away at each Zimbabwean bowler. He batted at his own pace, chose his own shots at his own time until he got to his ton.

In fact, the only time Zaman was ever troubled was at the beginning of the innings when he faced strike bowler Blessing Muzarabani and he referred to that period at the post match press conference.

“At the start (of the Pakistan innings) Muzarabani was bowling very well. I wasn’t feeling comfortable when he was bowling at me at the beginning,” said Zaman.

Muzarabani only yielded three runs in his first two overs, but it was smooth sailing for Zaman after that. To show that it was a difficult time on the field for Zimbabwe; the only wicket they took was through a run out, with Pakistan on 119.

And it was the lanky Muzarabani, who ran out Imam-ul-Haq when he tried to steal a run on 44. Zaman and Imam scored back-to-back 100 first wicket stands yesterday with a 119 following their 113 in the opening match last Friday.

Zimbabwe will try to salvage something off this series in tomorrow’s third game, but they will need more than just their presence on the pitch.

It is a daunting task with a depleted team that has only six recognised batsmen and no known wicket takers among their bowlers.

PJ Moor said 250 would have been a competitive score and that to get the scoreboard ticking on a regular like their Pakistan counterparts, they had to rotate the strike more.

“We were looking at 250 and above as a competitive score. We’ve learnt that we should rotate the strike more and the top order batsmen should bat deeper into the innings to give us a chance in the game,” said PJ Moor.