Pakistan knock Zimbabwe out

HARARE, July 04 (AFP): Pakistan knocked Zimbabwe out of the Twenty20 tri-series in Harare in a closely-fought encounter on Wednesday, beating the hosts by seven wickets with five deliveries to spare.

Captain Sarfraz Ahmed saw his side home with an unbeaten 38, meaning that Zimbabwean allrounder Solomon Mire's efforts earlier in the game went in vain. Mire struck 94, the highest score by a Zimbabwean in a Twenty20 international, but Zimbabwe's 162 for 4 was not enough to overcome the world's top ranked T20I side.

Pakistan's chase was given a rapid start by the openers. Haris Sohail and Fakhar Zaman took 56 from the Powerplay, but Sohail holed out soon afterwards.

When Zaman skied Mire to depart for 47, Pakistan needed more than eight runs an over from the last eight overs, but Ahmed's innings of calm precision kept them up with the asking rate.

Pakistan 163 for 3 (Fakhar 47, Talat 44, Sarfraz 38*) beat Zimbabwe 162 (Mire 94, Talat 1-10) by seven wickets