Whittall sparkles

HARARE, March 29: An unbeaten 53 in just 42 balls from all-rounder Guy Whittall boosted Zimbabwe to 272 for four in their second and final o...

HARARE, March 29: An unbeaten 53 in just 42 balls from all-rounder Guy Whittall boosted Zimbabwe to 272 for four in their second and final one-day cricket international against Pakistan at Harare Sports Club today.

Whittall, who raced to his eighth one-day 50 from 39 deliveries, dominated an unbroken stand of 89 for the fifth wicket in only 11 overs with Heath Streak (26 n.o). His innings included six fours and one six.

While opener Grant Flower, with an attractive 81, and Murray Goodwin, with a compact 47, gave the home side the ideal platform, Whittall and Streak ensured that early work was not wasted.

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All five Pakistan bowlers came under fire from the Zimbabwe batsmen, with leg-spinner Shahid Afridi (10-0-63-0) and slow left-armer Mohammad Hussain (10-0-80-2) proving the most expensive.

After a relatively slow start, Zimbabwe’s openers Flower and Alistair Campbell (12) accelerated to put on 64 for the first wicket in 16 overs.Campbell was eventually stumped by ‘keeper Rashid Latif after going downthe wicket to the left-arm spinner Hussain.

Goodwin (42) and Flower then upped the tempo with a second wicket partnership of 85 before Goodwin was run out attempting a second run to Waqar Younis on the boundary.

SCOREBOARD

ZIMBABWE: G Flower st Latif b Hussain 81, A Campbell st Latif b Hussain 12, M goodwin run out 47, A Flower b Younis 21, G Whittall not out 53, H Streak not out 26.

Extras (b 1, lb 13, w 18): 32.

Total (for four wickets, 50 overs): 272

Fall of wickets: 1-64, 2-149, 3-177, 4-183.

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Bowling: Akram 10-0-51-0, Younis 10-1-39-1, Mahmood 10-1-45-0, Afridi 10-0-63-0, Hussain 10-0-60-2.