Pakistan cruise into final despite Flower show

Pakistan shrugged off a 146-run stand from the Flower brothers as they confirmed their place in the Sharjah Champions Trophy final on Wednesday.

Their 29-run win, inspired by Shahid Afridi and pace bowlers Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram, also condemned Zimbabwe to a 16th successive one-day defeat in a row.

Pakistan looked in control for most of the match after one-day specialist Afridi had hit six sixes in a 34-ball half-century to help them to 261 for nine off their 50 overs.

Waqar then took two wickets in four balls to reduce the Zimbabweans to 13 for two, only for Grant and Andy Flower to resurrect the match.

They scored at six runs an over from the start, stealing sharp singles and constantly rotating the strike.

But left-arm pace bowler Wasim bettered Waqar's earlier burst with two wickets in three balls to all but settle the game.

Andy Flower, deceived by Wasim's slower delivery, offered a return catch after making 48 and Dion Ebrahim failed to get off the mark before edging behind, a diving Rashid Latif completing the catch to make it 159 for four.

Soon after, Grant Flower, on 91, was unluckily run out, a return drive from the spirited Dough Marillier coming off bowler Azhar Mahmood's fingertips onto the non-striker stumps.

Flower hit 11 boundaries in his 128-ball innings while Marillier hit a rapid 37 before the innings ended on 232 all out after 46.2 overs. Skipper Waqar took three for 41 and Wasim three for 19 off a splendid nine overs.

Sri Lanka, unbeaten after three games, and Pakistan play on Friday in the final round-robin match before meeting again in Sunday's final.

Earlier, Pakistan, opting to bat and given the perfect start by Afridi's fireworks, had looked perfectly placed at 205 for three with just over 10 overs remaining.

But six wickets, including three in successive overs and two run-outs, then fell for 45 runs.

The 21-year-old Afridi had savaged right-arm seamer Gary Brent in particular, greeting his first ball with a six over long on and repeating the dose next ball over the covers.

When Brent dared return for a second over, the first two deliveries also disappeared for sixes. Brent did manage two wickets to Sean Ervine's three but he conceded 51 from seven eventful overs.

Scorecard:
Pakistan innings | Zimbabwe innings

Mail Cricket Editor