Pakistan will take on Zimbabwe in the 2nd ODI to wrap up the series on Sunday.
Match Timings: Nov 01, 12:30 PM
Team Preview
Pakistan and Zimbabwe continue their series with the 2nd ODI in Rawalpindi. Pakistan would aim to win the series on Sunday after winning the opening ODI by 26 runs. Imam and Haris Sohail both scored half-centuries to gift Babar his first ODI win as captain. Haris Sohail has been excellent with the bat in middle-overs for Pakistan. The Hosts cannot take Zimbabwe lightly as the visitors showed a decent performance on Friday. Brendon Taylor scored his 11th ODI ton, and the young Madhevere scored a fine half-century. Craig Ervine was also influential in top-order, scoring crucial 41 runs. The duo almost took Zimbabwe to the winning line, but Shaheen-Wahab put a fabulous show in death-overs to script 1-0 lead in the series. The pacers picked 9 wickets together to hold the nerves for Pakistan.
Zimbabwe can find positives from the opening game. They restricted the Hosts on 281 after a good start, and they have controlled the game in middle-overs before the late collapse in flag-overs. They would aim to take these positives into the second game and square the series. Zimbabwe can back their unit to surprise Pakistan on Sunday. The top-order require some patience against the new ball, and they need to avoid playing foul shots. Pakistan is likely to go ahead with the same XI, but Zimbabwe can make one or two changes.
Pitch Report
Rawalpindi’s surface is a batting-friendly wicket. It offers a fair amount of runs, and it’s a surface of 300 if batsman avoids unwanted mistakes. Pacers have little help from the pitch due to some bounce. The new ball is crucial in the first hour.
Possible XI
Pakistan
Abid Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Haris Sohail, Iftikhar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Imad Wasim, Wahab Riaz, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf
Zimbabwe
Brendan Taylor (wk), Sean Williams, Chamu Chibhabha (c), Brian Chari, Sikandar Raza, Craig Ervine, Wesley Madhevere, Carl Mumba, Tendai Chisoro, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava
Key Players
Pakistan
Babar Azam
Last 5 ODIs: Runs: 306, Avg: 61.20, SR: 102.68
Shaheen Shah Afridi
Last 3 ODIs: Wickets: 15, SR: 11.6, Eco: 4.49
Zimbabwe
Brendon Taylor
Previous outing: 112 (117)
Madhevere
Last 4 ODIs: Runs: 184, Avg: 46, SR: 90.19