PAK vs ZIM: 2020, 1st ODI – Taylor’s record century, Shaheen matches Waqar’s feat and more stats

Pakistan sneaked through to a 26-run win on Friday against Zimbabwe in the first of the 3-match ODI series which is part of the CWC Super League. Fifties from Haris Sohail (71) and Imam-ul-Haq (58) could take Pakistan to only 281/8 in their first ODI appearance in more than 12 months.

Zimbabwe kept losing wickets in the first half of the chase before Brendan Taylor (112) got support from Wesley Madhevere (55). The duo put on 119 runs for the 5th wicket in only 112 balls but the visitors lost their last six wickets for 21 runs when they were only 48 runs away from a win in the last 29 deliveries.

Here are all the statistical highlights from Pakistan’s thrilling win during the first PAK vs ZIM ODI:
Pakistan gets new captain in ODIs:
30 – Babar Azam made his ODI captaincy debut on Friday making him the 30th player to lead Pakistan in this format. At the age of 26 years and 15 days, Babar is the 5th youngest ODI captain of Pakistan and the youngest to lead them in ODIs over the last 12 years.

Shaheen matches Waqar’s feat:
1 – Shaheen Shah Afridi became the first left-arm pacer to claim 4-wicket hauls in three successive ODI innings. He took a 6-wicket haul in his last ODI appearance against Bangladesh which was during the 2019 CWC and a 4-wicket haul against Afghanistan in the match before the 6-fer.

Shaheen is now the 10th player in Men’s ODI cricket to bag 4-fers in three consecutive innings and the 11th player with successive fifers in Men’s ODIs.

15 – Shaheen Shah Afridi has a total of 15 wickets across his last three ODI matches making him just the second player in ODI history to claim as many as 15 wickets in three successive ODIs. Waqar Younis had as many as three streaks in this format where he bagged 15 wickets in three consecutive games.

45 – Number of wickets Shaheen Shah Afridi has picked up in 20-match ODI career thus far. Only Ajantha Mendis (52) and Mitchell McClenaghan (48) have picked more wickets than Shaheen in first 20 ODI matches.

A record hundred from Taylor:
9 – As many as nine of the 11 hundreds by Brendon Taylor in ODI format resulted in defeats. Only Sachin Tendulkar (14) and Chris Gayle (11) had more centuries that Taylor in ODI losses.

17 – Brendan Taylor now has 17 centuries in International cricket including the six tons in the Test cricket. These are now the most number of International hundreds by any player for Zimbabwe surpassing Andy Flower’s 16 tons.

Taylor equals Sangakkara:
112 – Brendan Taylor’s 112-run knock is now the joint-highest ODI score by a visiting wicketkeeper in Pakistan against Pakistan. Kumar Sangakkara also scored exactly 112 during the 2008 Asia Cup game in Karachi against the hosts.

112 – Taylor’s 112 during the first PAK vs ZIM ODI is now the 2nd highest individual ODI score for Zimbabwe against Pakistan and also the 2nd highest on Pakistan soil. Elton Chigumbura struck a 95-ball 117 during Zimbabwe’s tour of Pakistan in 2015 at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

A solid start to Madhevere’s ODI career:
1 – Wesley Madhevere has scored 184 runs in his first four ODI matches; the highest aggregate after four ODI games/innings for Zimbabwe. Piet Rinke’s 170 runs are the previous highest aggregate after four matches/innings for Zimbabwe in ODI format. Wesley also became the first Zimbabwe player to score 30+ runs in each of his first four ODI matches/innings.

Taylor @ 100 sixes:
102 – The first of the three sixes hit by Brendan Taylor during the first PAK vs ZIM ODI was his 100th maximum in the ODI format. He is only the 2nd player after Elton Chigumbura (105) to hit 100 ODI sixes for Zimbabwe.

A game of left-arm bowlers:
2 – Pakistan registered only the 2nd instance in ODI history of all the ten wickets in an inning taken by left-arm bowlers. Shaheen Shah Afridi bagged a 5-wicket haul, Wahab Riaz ended with a 4-fer while Imad Wasim picked the other wicket.

The first such instance was recorded by India during the 2007 Mumbai ODI against Australia where Murali Kartik claimed a 6-wicket haul while the pacers RP Singh (2), Zaheer Khan (1) and Irfan Pathan (1) took four wickets between them.

3 – Shaheen Shah Afridi and Wahab Riaz became only the 3rd pair of left-arm pacers to claim 4-wicket hauls in an ODI match. Mohammad Irfan and Wahab Riaz during the 2015 CWC game against Zimbabwe while Jason Behrendorff and Mitchell Starc against England during the 2019 CWC league stage are other such pairs.

The biggest total without big partnerships:
281/8 – Pakistan’s total of 281/8 is now the highest in ODI history to not involve any partnerships of 50+ runs. The previous highest such total was 262/10 by Zimbabwe while chasing 302 against India in the 2000 Rajkot ODI. The opening stand of 47 between Abid Ali and Imam-ul-Haq was Pakistan’s highest partnership in the first PAK vs ZIM ODI.