Pakistan aim for clean sweep

HARARE: Pakistan are on the verge of completing a clean sweep of Zimbabwe across all formats of the game.

Victory in the second Twenty20 will see them finish off a hugely successful tour, in which they have been tested at times but have come out on top on each occasion.

It would be a fitting farewell for Waqar Younis, who will take charge of the team for the last time on Sunday. The tour has been free of the usual infighting and controversy and to end it in that fashion will be significant as well.

One of the aims for Pakistan was to introduce new players and change combinations and so far, they have done that successfully. Aizaz Cheema has had a dream start in international cricket, while Yasir Shah, Junaid Khan and Sohail Khan have also showed promise. Sohail Tanvir and Younis Khan have made convincing comebacks, as has Imran Farhat, though Shoaib Malik still has some work to do. For captain Misbah-ul-Haq, the tour has been an important passage for his leadership and he has led with eloquence and aplomb and would like to leave on a winning note.

Zimbabwe will want nothing more than for the nightmare to end after struggling to compete with an opponent who have pushed, pummelled and eventually punished them. Their inexperience at the top level has been exposed and they have struggled to construct innings on the one hand and contain the opposition on the other. Of even greater concern will be their ineptitude in the field, where they have been sub-standard and put down numerous chances. As a team, they once prided themselves on their fielding and to have performed so poorly will have been a major disappointment.

All is not lost yet, though. Victory in the remaining match will not mean much but it will give the team the self belief they need to go forward. They may have written this series off already and decided to focus on New Zealand but will do themselves a favour by treating the last match as seriously as any other, especially because Pakistan do not appear to have one foot on the plane and will give them a tough, final workout.