Pakistan deprived by D/L as Zimbabwe win

Hosts level series despite Malik's fighting unbeaten 96

harare - Shoaib Malik's brilliant fightback was foiled by bad light as Zimbabwe beat Pakistan by five runs on the Duckworth-Lewis method in a drama-filled second one-day international at Harare Sports Club on Saturday.
Malik was left stranded on 96 not out having hauled Pakistan from 76 for six to 256 for eight chasing 277 for victory when the umpires decided that the light was too poor to continue and took the players off the field with two overs remaining. The game had earlier been delayed by a brief rain shower, but the decision left the 33-year-old batsman furious as he was denied the opportunity to carry his team home.
The result left the three-match series level ahead of the tour finale on Monday. Pakistan collapsed to 76 for six in their reply, before rallying in the second half of their innings on the back of an excellent 96 not out from experienced batsman Shoaib Malik to leave them with 21 to get from the final two overs.
But with darkness descending on Harare, home umpire Jeremiah Matibiri and Ruchira Palliyaguruge from Sri Lanka pulled the players from the field and revised the Pakistan target to 262, leaving Zimbabwe victorious with the visitors stranded on 256 for eight in 48 overs.
Chibhabha, who was out for 99 when Zimbabwe toured Pakistan in May, looked as though he would score his maiden ODI ton before poor footwork saw him flash at a wide delivery from seamer Wahab Riaz and offer a low catch to wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed.
It was one of four wickets in the innings for Riaz, who also had home skipper Elton Chigumbura out hit wicket for a well-played 67 from 55 balls. Standing back in the crease, Chigumbura attempted to smash a low full toss, but succeeded only in crashing his bat into the wickets as he played the shot.
Riaz finished with figures of four for 63 in his 10 overs. Pakistan made a disastrous start to their reply as Zimbabwe seamer Tinashe Panyangara dismissed both openers cheaply on his way to figures of two for 44 in nine overs.
But the tourists mounted a superb rearguard action when Malik and Aamer Yamin (62 from 68 balls) put on 111 for the seventh wicket. Malik, who was four runs short of becoming the first ever Pakistan number five to score a century in a chase, added a further 63 with Yasir Shah (32 not out) for the ninth wicket before the light intervened and halted their charge.
The series decider will be played at the same venue on Monday.
Earlier, a composed 90 from Chamu Chibhabha and a late flourish from Elton Chigumbura took Zimbabwe to a competitive total.
Under pressure after being bowled out for a paltry 128 in the series opener, Zimbabwe's batsmen gave a better reflection of their abilities in posting 276 for six after being asked to bat first.
Their innings was founded on Chibhabha's fifth half-century of the year, as the opener steadily went about constructing an innings after encountering some swing early on. His 91-run stand with rookie Brian Chari laid the groundwork as Zimbabwe progressed to 118 for one in the 29th over.
Pakistan's persistence in keeping a slip in place paid off when Chari edged Mohammad Irfan to depart for a patient 39, and Wahab Riaz found the edge of Sean Williams' bat. However Chibhabha added 59 for the fourth wicket with Chigumbura, who ensured that he was ready to launch by the time that Chibhabha had been caught behind off Riaz.
The Zimbabwe captain launched two sixes as he put on 62 runs in six overs with Sikandar Raza Butt, before hitting his wicket to depart for 67 from 55 balls and give Riaz a fourth victim. With Sikandar Raza and Richmond Mutumbami also finding the middle of the bat, Zimbabwe added a further 23 from the last nine balls of their innings to leave Pakistan with a tall chase. The tourists won the first ODI of the three-match series by 131 runs. 
Scoreboard
Zimbabwe
H. Masakadza c Irfan b Riaz 7
C. Chibhabha c Sarfraz b Riaz 90
B. Chari c Hafeez b Irfan 39
S. Williams c Hafeez b Riaz 10
E. Chigumbura hit wicket b Riaz 67
S. Raza c Sarfraz b Yamin 32
R. Mutumbami not out 14
L. Jongwe not out 4
Extras (2b, 1lb, 9w, 1nb) 13
Total (6 wkts, 50 overs) 276
Fall of wickets: 1-27, 2-118, 3-132, 4-191, 5-253, 6-267.
Did not bat: G. Cremer, T. Panyangara, J. Nyumbu.
Bowling: Mohammad Irfan 10-1-47-1, Aamer Yamin 5-0-38-1, Wahab Riaz 10-1-63-4, Yasir Shah 6-0-30-0, Bilal Asif 8-0-39-0, Azhar Ali 4-0-22-0, Shoaib Malik 7-0-34-0.
Pakistan
A. Ali b Panyangara 1
B. Asif c Chigumbura b Panyangara 0
M. Hafeez run out 27
A. Shafiq c Mutumbami b Jongwe 1
S. Malik not out 96
S. Ahmed c Williams b Chibhabha 9
M. Rizwan c Nyumbu b Cremer 8
A. Yamin c Mutumbami b Chigumbura 62
W. Riaz run out 3
Y. Shah not out 32
Extras (4b, 12w, 1nb) 17
Total (8 wkts, 48 overs) 256
Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-8, 3-17, 4-40, 5-56, 6-76, 7-187, 8-193.
Did not bat: Mohammad Irfan.
Bowling: Panyangara 9-0-44-2, Jongwe 8-1-41-1, Williams 10-0-33-0, Chibhabha 8-0-55-1, Cremer 1.4-0-8-1, Nyumbu 6.2-0-38-0, Chigumbura 5-0-33-1.
Toss: Pakistan