Nazir slams century as Pak make finals

The two finalists however, will get warmed-up for the real thing when they contest the final preliminary match on Sunday here. The defeat meant Zimbabwe ended their first tour of the Caribbean winless and they will hope for greater success when they travel to England for a series of two-Tests and a tri-nation tournament also involving West Indies.

Zimbabwe were given their best opening stand of the series, but failed to mount a total to serious challenge Pakistan. Opening batsmen Neil Johnson and Craig Wishart shared 84 in 22.4 overs, but Zimbabwe’s batsmen were tied down by Pakistan’s bowlers, whose Arshad Khan led the way with three wickets for 45 runs from ten overs.

The 18-year-old Imran, playing in his tenth limited-overs match for Pakistan, had scores of six and nought in the two previous matches and his place in the side appeared tenuous for Saturday’s encounter. He responded to the challenge however, with a barrage of shots that left his opponents bewildered and helped his side recover from their 96-run defeat to West Indies on Wednesday in Kingstown.

Pakistan were given a flourishing start of 49 in eight overs from Imran and Shahid Afridi, who was caught at cover off medium-paced bowler Andy Blignaut, playing his first match of the series. While Imran was literally having his way with the bowling, Younis Khan and Yousuf Youhana made it look quite difficult before Pakistan declined to 78 for three in the 17th over.

Younis was caught and bowled by left-arm spin bowler Dirk Viljoen in the 16th over and Yousuf was bowled by fast-medium bowler Heath Streak in the 17th over. A stand of 63 between Imran and Inzamam-ul-Haq put Pakistan firmly on course for their result. The two were never troubled at anytime by the bowling, although Inzamam appeared to have been lucky lucky with an lbw verdict early in his innings.

In the 33rd over, Guy Whittall had Inzamam caught behind for 34 off 51 balls with Pakistan 141 for four. Imran and captain Moin Khan made sure Pakistan would not lose another wicket with an unbroken stand of 64. Moin was not out on 35 off 36 balls.

ZIMBABWE:N. Johnson c Arshad Khan b Mushtaq Ahmed 43, C. Wishart c Younis Khan b Abdur Razzaq , S. Carlisle b Arshad Khan 5, M. Goodwin c (sub) Shoaib Malik b Arshad Khan 35, A. Flower c&b Arshad Khan 31, A. Blignaut b Abdur Razzaq 3, G. Flower not out 9, G. Whittall c (sub) Shoaib Malik b Wasim Akram 7, D. Viljoen not out 0; Extras (lb14, w9, nb3) 26. Total (7 wkts, 50 overs) 204

Fall of wickets: 1-84, 2-98, 3-118, 4-177, 5-182, 6-186, 7-200

Bowling:Wasim Akram 8-1-27-1 (w2); Waqar Younis 10-0-44-0 (w3); Abdur Razzaq 10-2-32-2 (w4); Mushtaq Ahmed 10-1-29-1; Arshad Khan 10-0-45-3 (nb1); Shahid Afridi 2-0-13-0 (nb2)

PAKISTAN: Imran Nazir not out 105, Shahid Afridi c Viljoen b Blignaut 19, Younis Khan c&b Viljoen 1, Inzamam-ul-Haq c A Flower b Whittall 34, Moin Khan not out 35; Extras (lb6, w4, nb1) 11. Total (4 wkts, 43.1 overs) 205

Fall of wickets: 1-49, 2-77, 3-78, 4-141

Bowling: Johnson 4-0-26-0 (w1); Blignaut 7-0-37-1; Streak 9-0-33-1 (nb1); Nkala 4-0-23-0; Viljoen 10-1-34-1 (w1); G Flower 4.1-0-24-0 (w1); Whittall 5-0-22-1

Result: Pakistan beat Zimbabwe by six wickets.