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Confident Zimbabwe Hoping For First T20I Victory Over Pakistan
6 November 2020
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Paul Nyathi

Brendan Taylor expected to lead The Chevrons.

Zimbabwe have never beaten Pakistan in a T20I, but after a confidence-boosting Super Over win in the final ODI, the visitors will hope to make more impact in the shortest format of the game.

All eyes are on Zimbabwe as they head into the T20I series on the back of a stunning performance in the final ODI. They took the game into the Super Over for their first win in Pakistan in any format since 1998.

There were quite a few positives for the visitors from the ODI series: Two batsmen, Brendan Taylor and Seal Williams, made hundreds, while Blessing Muzarabani topped the wickets chart with seven in the three games, including a five-wicket haul.

Pakistan are slowly back on the rise after a blip in the T20I format. They beat Bangladesh at home 2-0 early in the year before levelling the three-match series against England. These came after they lost every T20I series they played in 2019, losing their No.1 position in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Team Rankings.

They continue to be without the injured Shadab Khan. Imad Wasim and Ifthikar Ahmed will likely continue in the spin department. Zimbabwe’s up and coming all-rounder Wesley Madhevere had a solid ODI series and will be keenly watched again.

When these teams met in Harare in 2018 for a T20I series, Hamilton Masakadza was the Zimbabwe captain and Sarfaraz Ahmed led the Pakistan side. Leadership aside, a lot has changed for both teams. Zimbabwe have built a strong bowling core, while Pakistan have impressive young talent coming through in all departments.

What they said:

Sean Williams (Zimbabwe all-rounder): “I think we can absolutely beat the bigger teams. We’re tired of competing and getting beaten. That’s no longer acceptable. It’s been way too long and the whole mental approach towards our game has completely changed. Some of the young players in the changing room, like Wesley Madhevere, are remarkably good players. This experience allows those younger guys to play and beat the bigger teams.”

Babar Azam (Pakistan captain): “We need to work on our fielding so we don’t drop so many catches. Those catches give good players second and third chances, and that hurt us in the end [in the final ODI].”