Iftikhar Ahmed, Babar Azam help Pakistan win 2nd ODI by 6 wickets

Pakistan chased down a measly 207-run target set by Zimbabwe in the second ODI in Rawalpindi with six wickets and almost 15 overs to spare. 

Two men were responsible for their win, which saw them take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. 

First, Iftikhar Ahmed starred with the ball with his maiden ODI five-wicket haul. Then, captain Babar Azam's 77-run innings off 74 balls made sure that the hiccups caused by his fellow batsmen do not cause a major headache.

Iftikhar, for his bowling feat and a handful of runs in the chase was named the player of the match.

The third ODI is on Tuesday. The series win means lots of fringe players and newcomers should get a chance.

End of live blog!

208-4 after 35.2 overs: Babar Azam finishes the match with a six. Pakistan win the match and the series.

202-4 after 35 overs: Iftikhar reviews a caught-behind decision and gets its overturned. Victory any ball now.

200-4 after 34 overs:

190-4 after 33 overs:

184-4 after 32 overs: Just 23 needed off 18 overs.

181-4 after 31 overs:

177-4 after 30 overs:

175-4 after 29 overs: Babar Azam brings up his 16th half-century with a pulled four. 

Babar Azam 53 (50) Iftikhar Ahmed 7 (10)

164-4 after 28 overs: Babar Azam is nearing yet another half century.

162-4 after 27 overs: Needless attempt at reverse sweep and Mohammad Rizwan is out bowled. Sikanda Raza has a decent shout for lbw too, but Iftikhar Ahmed survives.

Iftikhar Ahmed 0 (5) Babar Azam 47 (43)

162-3 after 26 overs:

152-3 after 25 overs:

143-3 after 24 overs: Mohammad Rizwan 0 (2) Babar Azam 29 (33)

140-3 after 23 overs:

137-3 after 22 overs: Haider Ali was taking more risks than needed and it transpires in his dismissal. Misses a sweep and is deemed out lbw. Review is taken and even though it seemed as if it might have kissed his gloves, no spikes are detected on Ultra Edge.

132-2 after 21 overs: Another six for the young Haider, who is overshadowing Babar Azam. This one is a flick.

121-2 after 20 overs: And just like that, the jitters are gone as Haider hits a massive 90-metre six.

112-2 after 19 overs: Haider Ali muscles a four. That should calm his nerves a bit.

Babar Azam 17 (19) Haider Ali 10 (10)

106-2 after 18 overs: Haider Ali does not look comfortable on debut. Dropped two catches in the field and is now living dangerously with the bat. Almost gets caught by keeper Brendan Taylor.

102-2 after 17 overs: Imam (49) had looked set to bring up his second straight half-century of the series but he nicks one back to the keeper. A review had to be taken to spot the nick. 

Haider Ali, who had a poor time in the field, is the next man in. Another wicket here could make things interesting.

100-1 after 16 overs:

99-1 after 15 overs:

93-1 after 14 overs: Imam-ul-Haq 45 (52) Babar Azam 12 (8)

86-1 after 13 overs:

82-1 after 12 overs:

72-1 after 11 overs: Abid Ali is gifted with arguably the worst ball of the match and he ends up finding Craig Ervine at short cover. It was hit with some force - so much so that it went through Ervine's hands and into his groin but he somehow held on to the cricket ball. Ervine grimaces but remains unhurt. Pakistan one down. Babar Azam is in.

67-0 after 10 overs: This one and the series already seem to be in the bag. 

52-0 after 9 overs: Imam couldn't buy a boundary two days ago but here he is finding the fence at will. While that aspect has improved, his running and calling still remains vulnerable. The lefty would have been run our had Sikandar Raza made a direct hit.

41-0 after 8 overs: Imam-ul-Haq 22 (29) Abid Ali 17 (19)

35-0 after 7 overs: Abid Ali with a picture perfect cover drive in this over. Not quite Babar Azam though.

30-0 after 6 overs: The 5'6 Abid Ali is trying to counter 6'8 Blessing Muzarabani's bounce by walking down the pitch. The pair in the same frame would be the pic of the day.

27-0 after 5 overs:

19-0 after 4 overs: Imam has done most of the scoring so far and that too in boundaries.

Abid Ali 2 (4) Imam-ul-Haq 16 (20)

14-0 after 3 overs:

11-0 after 2 overs:

9-0 after 1 over: Imam cracks two boundaries of the opening over - one on off and the other on on side.

0-0: Pakistan are about to begin their run chase. Imam-ul-Haq and Abid Ali open the innings.

Innings story in a nutshell: Zimbabwe, won the toss, opted to bat first and, after a slow start, were looking comfortable at the halfway mark. With two set batsmen (Brendan Taylor and Sean Williams) at the crease, they were eyeing somewhere between 260-270. This is when Iftikhar Ahmed, the part-time off-spinner, became a full-time wrecking machine. 

His maiden five-for demolished the spine of the African batting line-up. Wickets kept falling at regular intervals and in the end Zimbabwe were skittled for 206.

206 all-out after 45.1 overs: Musa bowls out Mumba as Zimbabwe fail to bat out their full overs.

206-9 after 45 overs: Afridi has a rare wicketless day. He finishes with 0-38 from his 10.

205-9 after 44 overs: Frustrated with Haider Ali dropping catches, the unlucky Imad Wasim takes matters in his own hands and bowls out Muzarabani.

197-8 after 43 overs: Afridi gets his for a six by the gargantuan Muzarabani, who again somehow survives another few barrage of yorkers. 

187-8 after 42 overs: Imad Wasim will be livid with Haider Ali, who drops another off his bowling. The debutant had an easy catch to grab but fumbled it 5 times circus-style before grassing.

181-8 after 41 overs: Afridi bowls multiple yorkers but Muzarabani survives.

175-8 after 40 overs: Imad Wasim's bad day does not get any better as Haider Ali drops Blessing Muzarabani off his bowling.

173-8 after 39 overs:

171-8 after 38 overs: Sean Williams (75) is a goner as Iftikhar Ahmed picks up his maiden five-wicket haul, thanks to Shaheen Afridi's stunning diving catch rushing in from long off.

Iftikhar finishes his quota off 10 overs with figures of 5-40.

167-7 after 37 overs: Carl Mumba 0 (9) Sean Williams 71 (68)

164-7 after 36 overs:

157-7 after 35 overs: Sean Williams 62 (62) Carl Mumba 0 (3)

150-7 after 34 overs: Chisoro tries to sweep Iftikhar, misses and cops it on the pad. The review doesn't save him as the part-timer picks up his fourth. Another wicket maiden for the oldest looking 30-year-old.

150-6 after 33 overs: Tendai Chisoro 7 (7) Sean Williams 55 (56

145-6 after 32 overs: Sikandar Raza is caught and bowled by Iftikhar Ahmed, who picks up his third. The part-time off-spinner is Pakistan's most successful bowler of the day so far.

141-5 after 31 overs:

139-5 after 30 overs: Madhevere takes risk, mistimes and gets caught at long on. Just a 15-ball 10 for the 20-year-old this time.

137-4 after 29 overs: Williams completes his fifty with a four off of Faheem Ashraf.

131-4 after 28 overs: Sean Williams 46 (44) Wesley Madhevere 9 (12)

The 29th over was to be bowled by Musa, who takes the run up but feels something in his calf and goes off the field. 

125-4 after 27 overs: A rare loose ball by Afridi gets dispatched for four. Equally precocious Madhevere the hitter.

120-4 after 26 overs: Taylor (36) goes for his favourite sweep shot but gets caught by Imam at square leg. 

First ODI's other African standout, Wesley Madhevere, is in.

Wicket maiden for Iftikhar.

120-3 after 25 overs: Afridi is brought back into the attack and he's no different to how he was earlier. A mere three runs given away.

Sean Williams 44 (39) Brendan Taylor 36 (44)

117-3 after 24 overs:

110-3 after 23 overs: Fifty partnership up between Brendan Taylor and Sean Williams.

106-3 after 22 overs:

101-3 after 21 overs: The uncharacteristically expensive Imad Wasim is replaced by Haris Rauf, who gives away just a single.

100-3 after 20 overs: The other spinner, Iftikhar Ahmed, bowls his first and sees Zimbabwe bring up their century.

95-3 after 19 overs: Two more boundaries off the Imad Wasim over as run rate has suddenly jumped up to 5 an over after all those dots over the first 16 overs.

85-3 after 18 overs: Two more boundaries in this over as Zimbabwe find higher gears after a slow start.

76-3 after 17 overs: Imad Wasim bowls his first over and is plundered for 17 runs. A rarity for the usually cheap left-arm spinner to be hit for three boundaries in a single over.

59-3 after 16 overs: Due to the low run-rate, Brian Chari takes the risk, comes down the track and pulls but ends up depositing a catch in the hands of debutant Haider Ali at deep square leg.

58-2 after 15 overs: Drinks break taken.

Brian Chari 25 (44) Brendan Taylor 18 (25)

56-2 after 14 overs: A largely disciplined over by Faheem Ashraf gets ruined by a last-ball six by Brendan Taylor. 

49-2 after 13 overs: Musa has his tail up. Gets smacked for a four off the final ball but otherwise an excellent over.

Brendan Taylor 11 (19) Brian Chari 23 (38)

43-2 after 12 overs: Faheem Ashraf starts with a maiden.

43-2 after 11 overs: Musa is bowling a couple fast, decent deliveries every over.

39-2 after 10 overs: First real expensive over of the innings that also sees the first six of the match. Haris Rauf was the bowler.

27-2 after 9 overs: Afridi is replaced by Muhammad Musa Khan, who bowls out Craig Ervine on just the second ball of his ODI career. He surprises new man Brendan Taylor with a rising ball to make his presence felt again. 

Things are happening here for young Musa in his first ODI over ever. He starts his career with a wicket maiden.

27-1 after 8 overs:

24-1 after 7 overs: Afridi is being his usual excellent self but just been unlucky. On the last ball, Mohammad Rizwan fails to collect a ball cleanly and gets hit on his left thumb. In some pain, he gets some treatment from a teammate but professional help is not called upon.

19-1 after 6 overs: Haris Rauf gets Chibhabha caught behind. That's the 1st wicket of his ODI career.

18-0 after 5 overs: Afridi is bowling fast and with the angle, often troubling and beating Brian Chari but just hasn't produced an edge yet.

14-0 after 4 overs:

11-0 after 3 overs: Afridi bowls a maiden. Has a half shout for caught behind on the last ball but no reviews taken by Babar Azam and co after a couple seconds of internal reviewing.

11-0 after 2 overs: The ball is coming on to the bat nicely and the African pair appears to be enjoying that.

4-0 after 1 over: Shaheen Afridi bowls the first over, Zimbabwe opener Brian Chari deals with him pretty comfortably.

Line-up: Pakistan have made two changes. Haider Ali replaces Haris Sohail, while Musa Khan comes in for Wahab Riaz. Both incomers are debutants.

Pakistan have a 1-0 lead courtesy their slim win in the 1st ODI, for which they owe everything to Wahab Riaz and Shaheen Afridi.

Team News: Word is that Haris Sohail is out injured and in his place Haider Ali is likely to get his ODI debut.

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