Zimbabwe score historic win as they beat Pakistan by 24 runs and level Test series 1-1

By PakPassion Staff (14th September, 2013)

Pakistan's hopes for a glorious victory hinged upon a solid partnership between the overnight batsmen - Misbah and Adnan Akmal.

That hope did not last long as Adnan was first to go this morning with the score at 163. Abdur Rehman provided some assistance to the increasingly desperate Misbah-ul-Haq. With Misbah at the crease, there was somehow hope but it was fading fast as even Abdur Rehman lost his patience and was dismissed. For Misbah to have pulled a miracle and silenced his critics of Mohali, he needed support and it was not forthcoming.

The rest of the tail lived up to its poor reputation - Ajmal and Junaid could not last long with the new ball being too much for Junaid to handle. The final nail in the coffin, was the run-out of Rahat Ali - needless but one that epitomized Pakistan's recent batting fortunes.

Misbah was left stranded on 79 and Zimbabwe, the worthy winners by 24 runs.

Fall of Wickets:

6-163 (Adnan Akmal, 52.2 ov),
7-197 (Abdur Rehman, 68.4 ov),
8-214 (Saeed Ajmal, 74.1 ov),
9-238 (Junaid Khan, 80.4 ov),
10-239 (Rahat Ali, 80.6 ov)

Misbah's heroic effort withstanding, the fact remains that some hard questions will come his and Dav Whatmore's way about the overall performance of Pakistan during this series. Exactly how a team of world class players could be brought to its knees by a team which was just about paid in time for this series will be the basis for some uncomfortable questions for the Pakistani team management as Pakistan have now dropped to 6th position in ICC rankings.

All said and done,Congratulations to Zimbabwe for winning this Test and leveling the series

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