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THAT’S A NASTY BLOW . . . Zimbabwe batsman Richmond Mutumbami is struck on the helmet by a Mohammad Irfan bouncer during the third One Day International against Pakistan at Harare Sports Club yesterday. — AFP

Eddie Chikamhi Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE cricket supporters are a passionate lot who have stood by their team in good and bad times. But, yesterday, the fans felt betrayed by their team following a terrible batting failure that virtually handed the three-match QMobile One Day International series to Pakistan on a silver platter.

Pakistan were untroubled as they romped to a seven-wicket win to take the series 2-1, much to the disappointment of the home crowd, who had hoped for an exciting contest in this decisive game which came on the back of a commendable show by the hosts in last Saturday’s victory which left the teams level.

The Chevrons were faced with a rare chance of winning the series yesterday but they destroyed the mood at the stadium with a disappointing performance after they were asked to bat first.

Zimbabwe broke the hearts of their fans after they were bowled out for 161, having faced only 38.5 overs.

This was despite a gutsy start by the openers Chamu Chibhabha (48) and Richmond Mutumbami, who scored a career best 67, in an a promising opening stand which all but pointed to a better day in the office for the Chevrons.

The pair put on 89 runs for the first wicket partnership but Zimbabwe’s problems playing spin returned to haunt them in this match as off-spinner Bilal Asif claimed his first five-wicket haul in only his second ODI while Imad Wasim took three.

Asif was named man-of-the-match for his impressive figures of 5/25 after bowling 10 overs to give the tourists the advantage before Shoaib Malik (34) and Asad Shafiq (38) took Pakistan home comfortably.

It was disappointing for the Zimbabweans.

It’s a fact that their fans are used to the misery of losing games, especially against top teams, but yesterday the emotions got the better of them as they felt their players didn’t commit themselves enough with the bat after Mutumbami and Chibhabha had given them the head start.

But trouble began when Chibhabha was deceived by a slower delivery and returned a catch to Asif, who made no mistake for the breakthrough which came after more than an hour of toil.

The gamble to rest out of sorts batsman Hamilton Masakadza seemed to pay off as Mutumbami remained resolute. But then Zimbabwe’s innings never got going following the departure of Chibhabha.

Brian Chari (4) was trapped lbw by Wasim to fuel a middle order collapse as Asif cleaned up the middle order with important wickets of Sean Williams (5), Elton Chigumbura for a duck, Sikandar Raza Butt (2) and Tino Mutombodzi (4).

By the time Zimbabwe faced the 31st over, they were already six wickets down, which did not quite resonate with their good start which had them at 89/1 in 21 overs.

The fans were stunned.

There was no singing at the Castle Corner, which is usually the heartbeat of Zimbabwe’s support.

It was always going to be difficult for Zimbabwe to defend such a low score.

The usually electric atmosphere at the Castle Corner, where they draw much of their inspiration, was replaced with total silence when Pakistan began the chase.

The supporters instead traded their sympathy for occasional insults and swearing at the players.

They knew the miracle would not happen and had given up hope before Pakistan had faced their faced ball.

Openers Ahmed Shehzad (32) and man-of-the-match Asif (38) were in no hurry when they set out for the tourists.

They nearly suffered an early setback when Asif edged the ball to John Nyumbu, who was at slip, but the Zimbabwean could not hold on to the catch.

Asif survived another scare again in the same second over when he chipped the ball off the bowling off the bowling of Luke Jongwe but Williams could not get there in time.

The opening pair managed to put on 58 runs on the board before Nyumbu made the breakthrough for Zimbabwe, thanks to a stunning catch by Mutombodzi at the long-on boundary.

Williams and Panyangara also got a wicket each but Pakistan were not troubled at all as they coasted home with 16 overs to spare.

Zimbabwe Scorecard

CJ Chibhabha c & b Bilal Asif 67

R Mutumbami† c †Sarfraz Ahmed b Mohammad Irfan 48

BB Chari bw b Imad Wasim 4

SC Williams c & b Bilal Asif 5

E Chigumbura* b Bilal Asif 0

Sikandar Raza b Bilal Asif 2

CT Mutombodzi b Bilal Asif 4

MN Waller c Mohammad Hafeez

b Imad Wasim 8

LM Jongwe not out 16

T Panyangara lbw b Imad Wasim 0

J Nyumbu c Mohammad Rizwan

b Shoaib Malik 4

Extras (w 3)

Total (all out, 38.5 overs) 161

Fall of wickets 1-89 (Chibhabha, 20.3 ov), 2-100 (Chari, 23.1 ov), 3-111 (Williams, 26.3 ov), 4-111 (Chigumbura, 26.5 ov), 5-121 (Sikandar Raza, 28.3 ov), 6-127 (Mutombodzi, 30.5 ov), 7-133 (Mutumbami, 32.5 ov), 8-144 (Waller, 35.1 ov), 9-144 (Panyangara, 35.3 ov), 10-161 (Nyumbu, 38.5 ov)