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In the first match of the three-match ODI series, Sikandar Raza, the star batter of Zimbabwe, was again phenomenal with bat and ball on the field. With the help of his all-round performance Zimbabwe were successfully posted a total of 205 against the visitor side Pakistan.

Men in Green had chosen to bowl first after winning the crucial toss against Zimbabwe and invited the host to bat first. There were two debutants for Pakistan as Aamer Jamal and Faisal Akram played their first ODI match.

In the response of 205 runs by Zimbabwe, Pakistan were 6 wickets down for just 60 runs after 21 overs. Pakistani batters looked in a hurry in the chase and nobody wanted to get settled there for a longer period of time.

Match review

The visitors rested their main players in the first match and this decision backfired them on the field. However, debutant Faisal Akram showed great skills and picked up three-wicket hauls along with Agha Salman’s three-wicket hauls. With the help of their performances they restricted the host to 205 runs only.

At one point of time, Zimbabwe were reduced to 125 for 7 but when it seemed like the close of their innings was near, Sikandar Raza and Ngrava kept the Pakistani bowlers at bay for 12 overs with 62-run partnership for the eighth wicket.

Sikandar Raza “The Man of The Match” ahead of the IPL mega auction

Zimbabwe off-spinner Sikandar Raza got Man of the Match award in the series opener against Pakistan. He picked up 2 wickets for 7 runs after playing a solid knock of 39 in the low scoring match.

He can be a very good pick for any team in the auction as apart from his all-round ability, he is excellent in captaincy too. Notably, Raza is in form of his life these days as under his leadership Zimbabwe won 6 matches in a row in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Sub Regional Africa Qualifier Group B, 2024 and he performed exceptionally well in the tournament. The 38-years-old batter smashed 199 runs at an outstanding average of 99.50 in 4 innings.

Raza possesses outstanding T20 stats under his name. In 258 matches, he has scored over 5,000 runs at the strike rate of 136.07 in the shorter format of the game. Although, he has played 9 matches in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the Punjab Kings (PBKS), where he just managed to score 182 runs at an average of 26.0 in as many matches.

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