Afridi steers Pak to easy T20 win

Pakistan beat Zimbabwe by 25 runs in the first Twenty20 international on Friday as Shahid Afridi ripped through a home batting lineup that never got close to the tourists’ total of 161/5. Afridi took 3/25 and Zimbabwe struggled to post 136/5 in their reply. Earlier, Afridi also made 23 not out, while opener Ahmed Shehzad top-scored for Pakistan with 70 from just 50 balls. Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor made 32 not out in the chase but the home batsmen couldn’t launch an attack after opener Vusi Sibanda fell to Afridi for 31.

SCORECARD Pakistan: A. Shehzad c Waller b S. Masakadza 70, N. Jamshed c Vitori b Chatara 2, M. Hafeez c Taylor b Chatara 3, U. Amin c Taylor b Utseya 14, S. Maqsood c Sibanda b Chigumbura 26, S. Afridi (not out) 23, A. Ali (not out)10. Extras: (5lb, 8w) 13. Total (for 5 wkts, in 20 overs) 161. FoW: 1-14, 2-21, 3-51, 4-106, 5-135. Bowling: Utseya 4-0-15-1, Chatara 4-0-30-2, Vitori 4-0-26-0, S. Masakadza 4-0-37-1, Williams 2-0-18-0, Chigumbura 2-0-30-1. Zimbabwe: H. Masakadza lbw b Ali 18, V. Sibanda b Afridi 31, B. Taylor (not out) 32, S. Williams lbw b Hafeez 9, T. Maruma st Ahmed b Afridi 10, E. Chigumbura b Afridi 6, M. Waller (not out) 14. Extras: (5b, 2lb, 9w) 16. Total: (for 5 wkts, in 20 overs) 136. FoW: 1-53, 2-80, 3-89, 4-111, 5-117. Bowling: Tanvir 4-0-23-0, Irfan 3-0-18-0, Ali 3-0-21-1, Ajmal 4-0-30-0, Afridi 4-0-25-3, Hafeez 2-0-12-1.