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Pakistan rain on Chigumbura’s farewell parade

PAKISTAN ensured former Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura did not have a victorious finish to his international career as they thrashed Zimbabwe by eight wickets in the final T20I to complete a 3-0 whitewash.

Chamu Chibhabha Chigumbura retired from all forms of international cricket at the conclusion of the Pakistan tour

Having already picked up resounding wins in the opening two games, the hosts were relentless in their pursuit of a clean weep as Zimbabwe were restricted to just 129/9 batting first, which was then chased down with ease.

Chigumbura retired from all forms of international cricket at the conclusion of the Pakistan tour.

A veteran of many battles over the past 16 years during which he served as Zimbabwe’s limited-overs captain from August 2014 before stepping down in January 2016 Chigumbura made the decision to bring the curtain down on his career as injuries had continued to take a toll on him as well as to pave the way for young blood in the national side.

His international career started off on 20 April 2004 when, at the age of 18, he faced Sri Lanka in an ODI match played in Harare.

As he bows out, he has made 213 One Day Internationals (ODI) and 14 Test appearances for Zimbabwe, with 54 T20I matches under his belt before the start of his swansong series.

Chigumbura is one of Zimbabwe’s most-capped players, having played 281 international matches excluding the current series in which he made 5 761 runs and took 138 wickets.

Renowned as an explosive finisher during his prime, he scored two centuries and 26 fifties across all formats.

ICC congratulates Chigumbura for a fine career

The International Cricket Council (ICC) congratulated Chigumbura for a successful career that saw him compete in all three formats over a period of 16 years.

The 34-year-old, a regular at top ICC events including three Men’s Cricket World Cups and five T20 World Cups, has decided to retire after the T20I series against Pakistan in Rawalpindi.

ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney: “I congratulate Elton for an impressive career that saw him succeed across formats for a number of years. He was a fine ambassador of the game and came up with notable contributions with both bat and ball across formats.

“I hope Elton will continue to be associated with the game after retirement and use his considerable experience to promote the game in his country and outside. On behalf of everyone at the ICC, I wish him all the best for whatever he decides to pursue in the coming years.”

The fast bowling all-rounder scored 569 runs and took 21 wickets in 14 Tests but tasted more success in ODI cricket, amassing 4 340 runs and grabbing 101 wickets in 213 matches. He went into Tuesday’s T20I, the 57th and last of his career, with 891 runs and 16 wickets.

Chigumbura played in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cups of 2007, 2011 and 2015, the ICC Men’s T20 World Cups of 2007, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016, as well as the ICC Champions Trophy tournament in 2004 and 2006. He led Zimbabwe in 62 ODIs and 18 T20Is.

Who starred for Pakistan with the ball?

Usman Qadir, son of former great Abdul Qadir, has been making waves for sometime now and he showcased his skills on Tuesday in what was just his third international game. By the time he came into the attack, Pakistan had already made a couple of vital breakthroughs and Qadir ensured Zimbabwe never recovered.

He struck on his second delivery, getting rid of Zimbabwe’s top scorer on the day -Chamu Chibhabha – who miscued one to deep midwicket. Usman followed it up with two more scalps in the 13th over to leave Zimbabwe reeling at 76/6. He finished his spell with one more wicket in his final over to register figures of 4/13. With Imad Wasim also making incisions at the other end, there was no respite for a struggling Zimbabwean batting unit.

What did Chigumbura do on his farewell?

Well, he was definitely not required to bowl and had contributed just 2 off 6 deliveries with the bat. Pakistan gave the former Zimbabwe skipper a guard of honour but they certainly weren’t going easy on him. The 34-year-old fell prey to a Qadir googly and Zimbabwe had to rely on a few timely boundaries from Donald Tiripano to drag them to 129/9. Brendan Taylor and Craig Ervine, the two big guns in the top 3, contributing just 12 runs in total didn’t help their cause either.

Was the chase straightforward?

Pakistan were definitely cautious at the start. In the first four overs, they managed just 19 runs with Fakhar Zaman receiving a reprieve. Zaman then broke the shackles with the first six of the innings in the fifth over with debutant Abdullah Shafique opting to bide his time scoring only 13 in the powerplay. Zaman fell immediately after the powerplay but Haider Ali got Pakistan moving with a couple of sixes in the middle overs.

Even though he fell for a 20-ball 27, Pakistan had two newbies taking charge of the run chase post that. Khushdil Shah, playing just his fifth international game, joined forces with Shafique and made lightwork of the task at hand. Shafique took on Milton Shumba for a couple of sixes and a four in the 14th over and finished off the chase with one more biggie as Pakistan won with 28 balls left to spare. Khushdil ended up unbeaten on 36 that came off just 15 deliveries whereas Shafique finished unbeaten on 41.

Brief scores: Zimbabwe 129/9 in 20 overs (Chamu Chibhabha 31; Usman Qadir 4-13, Imad Wasim 2-27) lost to Pakistan 130/2 in 15.2 overs (Abdullah Shafique 41*, Khushdil Shah 36*) by 8 wickets – cricbuzz.com/staffwriter