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Pakistan 315 for 9 (Haseebullah 135*, Irfan 75, Falao 5-58) beat Zimbabwe 200 all out (Bennett 82, Awais 6-56) by 115 runs

PAKISTAN wicket keeper-batter Haseebullah Khan hammered 135 to lift Pakistan to 315 for 9, a total 115 runs too much for Zimbabwe in their game at Diego Martin.

Haseebullah put on a 189-run third-wicket stand with the No. 4 Irfan Khan, who made 75 in 73 balls. After that, the rest of Pakistan’s batters smacked quick-fire cameos to give Zimbabwe an uphill chase. The 16-year-old Awais Ali then picked up three late wickets in the second innings to finish with 6 for 56, the tournament’s best figures so far.

Haseebullah, the opener, hammered ten fours and four sixes in his 155-ball innings while Irfan crunched six fours and one six. Their third-wicket stand was broken by right-arm seamer Alex Falao when Irfan fell in the 45th over, but that did not plug the flow of runs.

Qasim Akram, the Pakistan captain, scored an 11-ball 20, Abbas Ali made 13 in six balls and the No. 9 Zeeshan Zamar hit three sixes in his six-ball 21 to take Pakistan to 315. Falao picked up another four wickets after Irfan’s dismissal to finish with 5 for 58.

Pakistan’s opening bowlers, Zeeshan Zameer and Ahmed Khan, together with first-change bowler Awais pegged Zimbabwe back early with their breakthroughs. On the back of their effort, Pakistan had reduced Zimbabwe to 82 for 6 which soon was 111 for 7.

But Brian Bennett went on to hit a 92-ball 82 to get Zimbabwe as close to the target as he could. He did the bulk of the scoring in a 73-run eighth-wicket stand with Tendekai Mataranyika to take Zimbabwe to 200. But Awais returned to clean both of them up, and also the final wicket, to finish with a six-for. Despite Zimbabwe’s late rally to protect their net run rate, they still fell short by 115. – ESPNcricinfo