Updated at: 1000 PST, Friday, September 16, 2011
HARARE: After winning their one-off Test and later whitewashing Zimbabwe 3-0 in the ODI series, Pakistan will go all out to stamp their superiority in the two-match Twenty20 series getting underway from today.
Pakistan, the former world T20 champions, will begin as hot favourites to win both the games even though Zimbabwe will be fancying their chances in the shortest format of the game.
As a team Zimbabwe have largely been doing the basics right, and in the process have shown that there's a good deal of talent to work with. However when they've been required to up the tempo in a run chase the necessary fluency just hasn't been there, and a flurry of wickets has generally been the result.
Since the advent of Twenty20 Zimbabwe have played just 14 internationals, a pitiful number when you put it next to Pakistan's 46.
This may have helped Zimbabwe on their return to Test cricket, where most of the batsmen have displayed admirable technique, but they're lacking a dimension to their one-day stroke-play.
As for the bowling, the seamers have shown an ability to be accurate and consistent, but on flat pitches that is often not enough. Chris Mpofu admits that adding a slower ball to his repertoire has turned his game around, and Kyle Jarvis and Brian Vitori need to do likewise.
Having won the Test and swept the one-day series, Pakistan will view the Twenty20 series as a chance to have a bit of fun. The tour has been a great success, particularly in the way the inexperienced fast bowlers have been blooded.
The only member of the touring party not to play a match so far is Rameez Raja, so expect the 24-year-old to enjoy his first international showing in one or both of the matches. Having played a key role with the bat in the Karachi Dolphins' run to the final of their recent domestic Twenty20 competition, where they lost a one-over eliminator to the Rawalpindi Rams, Raja will be one to watch.
Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, said that there would be two or three changes to the side that took the field in the third one-dayer as Pakistan look to find the right Twenty20 balance. One imagines they will look to field their strongest possible side in the first match, with Saeed Ajmal likely to return, before possibly giving a game to others in the second.
Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar, Imran Farhat, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Rameez Raja, Shoaib Malik, Adnan Akmal (wk), Saeed Ajmal, Yasir Shah, Sohail Tanvir, Sohail Khan, Junaid Khan, Aizaz Cheema.
Zimbabwe: Brendan Taylor (captain), Regis Chakabva, Vusi Sibanda, Chamu Chibhabha, Charles Coventry, Hamilton Masakadza, Tatenda Taibu (wk), Malcolm Waller, Elton Chigumbura, Prosper Utseya, Ray Price, Kyle Jarvis, Chris Mpofu, Brian Vitori, Cephas Zhuwao.
HARARE: After winning their one-off Test and later whitewashing Zimbabwe 3-0 in the ODI series, Pakistan will go all out to stamp their superiority in the two-match Twenty20 series getting underway from today.
Pakistan, the former world T20 champions, will begin as hot favourites to win both the games even though Zimbabwe will be fancying their chances in the shortest format of the game.
As a team Zimbabwe have largely been doing the basics right, and in the process have shown that there's a good deal of talent to work with. However when they've been required to up the tempo in a run chase the necessary fluency just hasn't been there, and a flurry of wickets has generally been the result.
Since the advent of Twenty20 Zimbabwe have played just 14 internationals, a pitiful number when you put it next to Pakistan's 46.
This may have helped Zimbabwe on their return to Test cricket, where most of the batsmen have displayed admirable technique, but they're lacking a dimension to their one-day stroke-play.
As for the bowling, the seamers have shown an ability to be accurate and consistent, but on flat pitches that is often not enough. Chris Mpofu admits that adding a slower ball to his repertoire has turned his game around, and Kyle Jarvis and Brian Vitori need to do likewise.
Having won the Test and swept the one-day series, Pakistan will view the Twenty20 series as a chance to have a bit of fun. The tour has been a great success, particularly in the way the inexperienced fast bowlers have been blooded.
The only member of the touring party not to play a match so far is Rameez Raja, so expect the 24-year-old to enjoy his first international showing in one or both of the matches. Having played a key role with the bat in the Karachi Dolphins' run to the final of their recent domestic Twenty20 competition, where they lost a one-over eliminator to the Rawalpindi Rams, Raja will be one to watch.
Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, said that there would be two or three changes to the side that took the field in the third one-dayer as Pakistan look to find the right Twenty20 balance. One imagines they will look to field their strongest possible side in the first match, with Saeed Ajmal likely to return, before possibly giving a game to others in the second.
Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar, Imran Farhat, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Rameez Raja, Shoaib Malik, Adnan Akmal (wk), Saeed Ajmal, Yasir Shah, Sohail Tanvir, Sohail Khan, Junaid Khan, Aizaz Cheema.
Zimbabwe: Brendan Taylor (captain), Regis Chakabva, Vusi Sibanda, Chamu Chibhabha, Charles Coventry, Hamilton Masakadza, Tatenda Taibu (wk), Malcolm Waller, Elton Chigumbura, Prosper Utseya, Ray Price, Kyle Jarvis, Chris Mpofu, Brian Vitori, Cephas Zhuwao.
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