Faheem Ashraf’s historic spell in Zimbabwe
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*HARRARE - Faheem Ashraf’s maiden five-for helped Pakistan get Zimbabwe all out for just 67 runs in the third ODI of the five match series in Bulawayo on Wednesday, ESPNcricinfo reported.*
This is Zimbabwe’s lowest total in an ODI against Pakistan. Ashraf was the star of the inning as he took five wickets for just 22 runs in 8.1 overs. Eight of the Zimbabwean batsmen could not even enter the double figures. The highest scorer from the Zimbabwe side was Chamu Chibhabha, who scored 16 runs off 28 balls.
Earlier, Zimbabwe won the toss and opted to bat against a reinforced Pakistan bowling attack in the third one-day international.
Pakistan, two-up in the five match series, bring back leg-spinner Yasir Shah for his first ODI in two years and also bring in left-arm quick Junaid Khan.
The return of Shah from an injury lay-off that kept him out of Pakistan’s tour of England means Pakistan are playing two front-line spinners on a wicket expected to play true, with good bounce, but likely to take some spin.
Zimbabwe have also opted to play two specialist slow bowlers, with Tendai Chisoro and Wellington Masakadza — both left-arm spinners — included.
Zimbabwe have also brought batsman Prince Masvaure into their playing XI. He was called up after Malcolm Waller pulled out of the squad over the weekend, citing labour practice concerns.
Waller becomes the sixth Zimbabwean player to withdraw from a depleted squad in recent times, while the hosts are also missing Solomon Mire and Kyle Jarvis through injury.
Pakistan have also lost a player from their squad: batsman Haris Sohail has returned home due to his daughter’s illness, and the team management have decided not to name a replacement for the remainder of the series.
*Pakistan:* 1 Imam ul Haq, 2 Fakhar Zaman, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Shoaib Malik, 5 Sarfraz Ahmed (c/w), 6 Asif Ali, 7 Faheem Ashraf, 8 Shadab Khan, 9 Yasir Shah, 10 Junaid Khan, 11 Usman Khan
*Zimbabwe:* 1 Chamu Chibhabha, 2 Prince Masvaure, 3 Hamilton Masakadza (c), 4 Tarisai Musakanda, 5 PJ Moor, 6 Elton Chigumbura, 7 Ryan Murray (w), 8 Tendai Chisoro, 9 Wellington Masakadza, 10 Blessing Muzarabani, 11 Richard Ngarava
Umpires: Jeremiah Matibiri (ZIM), Ian Gould (ENG) - APP/AFP