Rizwans unbeaten 82 and Qadirs three for seal it for Pakistan

Zimbabwe fell 12 runs short of beating Pakistan in a T20I for the first time after being well-set in chase of 150. A 56-run third wicket stand between Tinashe Kamunhukamwe and Craig Ervine put Zimbabwe on 77 for 2 in the 11th over but Babar Azam's masterstroke to use Mohammad Hafeez's offspin, after he has only bowled one over in 14 T20Is since November 2018, sparked a collapse that saw Zimbabwe lose 4 for 18 in 18 balls and left too much for the lower-order to do. Luke Jongwe's 30 off 23 balls almost pulled off a coup but Haris Rauf defended 20 off the last over to ensure Pakistan took the series lead.

Pakistan's total was almost single-handedly built by Mohammad Rizwan, who racked up his fifth score of 50 runs or more in his last eight T20I innings, and made 82 of their 149. No-one else contributed more than 15 runs. Pakistan particularly struggled against Zimbabwe's spinners - Wellington Masakadza and Wesley Madhevere, who conceded 32 runs in five overs between them - and will continue to look for solutions to make their middle-order tick.

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