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Pakistan qualified for the knock-out stage of the ICC Cricket World Cup on Monday by defeating Zimbabwe by 7 wickets in a rain-affected encounter at the Pallekele International Stadium in Kandy. Pakistan were on top right through the contest and didn’t allow Zimbabwe to cause any real problems in either innings. Umar Gul destroyed their top order picking up 3 wickets to restrict the Africans to just 151/7 in 39.4 overs, and Pakistan chased down the adjusted target with 7 wickets to spare courtesy of an unbeaten 78 from Asad Shafiq.

Zimbabwe won the toss and decided to bat first despite the overcast conditions. It was a poor decision by the Zimbabwe team management and while it was understandable considering the absence of a genuine seam attack, it played right into Pakistan's strength and allowed them to dominate the game. There were changes to both sides with Pakistan dropping Shoaib Akhtar in favour of young Wahab Riaz, while Umar Akmal's much publicized injured finger gave young Asad Shafiq an opportunity to impress. Zimbabwe brought in Vusi Sibanda and Shingirai Masakadza for Tinashe Panyangara and Chris Mpofu.

ZImbabwe had the worst possible start as they lost their batsman of the tournament, Brendan Taylor, in the very first over with Abdul Razzaq enducing the outside edge which Kamran Akmal managed not to drop it. The other opener, Regis Chakbva, was back in the hutch in the second over when he was trapped in front of the wickets by Umar Gul. Vusi Sibanda didn’t last long as he gave Misbah-ul-Haq catching practice in the slips with Umar Gul taking his second wicket to leave Zimbabwe at 13/3 . Tatenda Taibu and Craig Ervine, batsmen who had shown some good form early in the World Cup, had the task to save Zimbabwe from a collapse.

Both batsmen settled in but Taibu gave away his wicket when on 19, offering a simple catch to Shahid Afridi at mid-off off the bowling of Wahab Riaz. Pakistan’s fielding woes threatened to come back to haunt them when Misbah dropped Ervine in the slips denying Gul his third scalp. Greg Lamb joined Ervine and played second fiddle. Pakistan didn’t give away any easy singles and made Zimbabweans work hard for each run. Ervine didn’t look too convincing as he edged a couple more but in vacant spaces. Lamb fell for 16, giving an easy catch to Shahid Afridi off his own bowling to leave Zimbabwe at 84/5 in the 24th over.

Rain interrupted play in the 28^th over but the ground staff did a good job to keep alive the hopes of resuming the match. The players were back onto the field after a few hours later and the match was duly reduced to 43 overs. Ervine got to his fifty after the rain break but missed a straight delivery from Mohammad Hafeez leaving two new batsmen in the middle to take Zimbabwe to a competitive total. Prosper Utseya and captain Elton Chigumbara played well and got some runs on the board to take Zimbabwe past 150 but Chigumbara top edged a Gul bouncer to depart just before rain interrupted play again with Zimbabwe 151 for 7 in the 40^th over.

Pakistan were assigned a revised target of 162 to chase in 38 overs at a required run rate of just above 4. The openers made a brisk start but as has been for Pakistan the whole tournament, Ahmed Shahzad departed early. Shahzad skipped down the track to a flighted delivery from Price but was comprehensively beaten in the air and found himself stumped by Tatenda Taibu. Asad Shafiq, who came into the side for Umar Akmal, was given the chance to bat at no 3 and make a mark for himself. Mohammad Hafeez at the other end was hitting the ball beautifully and was quick to pounce on anything short. Neither batsman appeared to be in a hurry and edged closer to their target.

Pakistan scored 32 runs in the mandatory powerplay of 8 overs with the Zimbabwean spinners bowling a very tight line and not giving anything away. Pakistan managed just 13 runs in the bowling powerplay but didn’t lose any wicket. Pakistan reached 50 in the 13^th over and were looking to stay ahead of the D/L requirement by the end of the 20^th over. Hafeez was the more aggressive of the two batsmen and quickly moved into the 40s. He was unfortunate though to narrowly miss out on a half-century when he fell to Utseya on 49.

Afridi came in to finish things quickly but was bowled by a slider from Price for just 3. Zimbabwean hopes were hanging by a thread, but Shafiq came into his own at that moment and took charge of the situation. He found the ideal partner in veteran former skipper Younus Khan and between them they ensured that Pakistan faced no hiccups as they coasted to a comfortable win.

The result means that Pakistan jump to second place in the points table, level on points with New Zealand. They place their last group stage game against the mighty Australians and would hope for if nothing else a good showing to ensure that they get a relatively easier opponent come the quarter-finals. That match is on this coming Saturday back in Colombo. Zimbabwe meanwhile are out of the reckoning, but they will still aim to pick up maximum points when they run into another African side, Kenya, on Sunday, the last day of the Group stage of the competition.

Teams:

Zimbabwe Brendan Taylor, Regis Chakabva, Tatenda Taibu (wk), Craig Ervine, Elton Chigumbura (c), 6 Vusi Sibanda, Greg Lamb, Prosper Utseya, Graeme Cremer, Ray Price, Shingirai Masakadza

Pakistan Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal (wk), Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Asad Shafiq, Shahid Afridi(c), Abdul Razzaq, Wahab Riaz, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul.

Mini Scorecard:

Zimbabwe 151/7 in 39.4 overs (3.8 runs per over)
C Ervine 52(82) U Gul 3-36
E Chigumbura 32(46) M Hafeez 1-11

Pakistan 162/3 in 34.2 overs (4.8 runs per over)
A Shafiq 78*(97) R Price 2-21
M Hafeez 49(65) P Utseya 1-24

Pakistan won by 7 wickets (D/Lmethod)

File Photograph Copyright: ICC World T20