Srikrishnan Chandrasekharan
Aizaz Cheema had an impressive series for Pakistan with the ball
Pakistan completed a clean sweep in the ODIs against Zimbabwe. It was a very good performance from the Pakistan team with some new faces in their bowling line up. Aizaz Cheema made an impressive debut for Pakistan in the series and led the wickets tally. It was a significant performance by the 32 year old making his debut taking wickets with a good strike rate, average and economy. The experienced Younis Khan won player of the series award. The Pakistan openers did a tremendous job in giving a good starts when the team needed.
It was a tough series for Zimbabwe playing against Pakistan that had a good mix of experienced and young blood. Zimbabwe team played good cricket throughout the series. The first match of series had a nail biting finish; the second match was a complete domination by Pakistan openers. In the 3rd match there was plenty of expectation that Taylor would continue his good form with the bat to save their side from the whitewash. Unfortunately he got out early and wickets fell down at regular intervals to eventually push Zimbabwe short by 28 runs.
Team and management of Zimbabwe Cricket should focus on the positives out of the tour. They were able to score 220-plus in all the matches and given a good fight. The team needs to invest more time towards areas of improvement and rebuilding the team for the upcoming T20 against Pakistan followed by New Zealand and West Indies series in the month of October.
On the other hand, Pakistan needs to strengthen their team for their upcoming series against Sri Lanka. The series will be held in Dubai due to security constraints at Pakistan. It promises to be a good contest with Pakistan showing good promise.
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