The Pakistan Cricket Team has successfully completed their Netherland tour by sweeping away three-match ODI series against the hosts. Babar Azam-led side notched up crucial wins in every game of the series as they moved to their next assignment which will be T20 Asia Cup 2022 in UAE.

The third and final match of the series was played on Sunday at Hazelaarweg Stadium in Rogtterdam as the visitors won the game by mere 9-runs. Pakistan rode on the impressive batting display from skipper Babar Azam who continued his rich form in the format and scored 91-runs off 125 deliveries to guide his side to a competitive total of 206/10 in 49.4 overs. 

Apart from Babar’s 91, Mohammad Nawaz’s 27 was the second highest score from Pakistan infront of Zimbabwe’s impressive bowling. For hosts, right-handed all-rounder Bas de Leede clinched three wickets, while right-arm medium pacer Vivian Kingma picked two wickets to bundle out visitors on 206.

In response, Zimbabwe’s top-order batter Vikramjit Singh played a crucial 50-run knock off 85 deliveries along with skipper Tom Cooper (60 off 105) to keep the hope alive, but Pakistan’s young prodigy Naseem Shah took five-wickets in the game to won the game for his side. Mohammad Wasim Jr too made an impressive contribution as he hunted down four of Zimbabwe batters. 

While Babar Azam grabbed lot of limelight for his impressive batting effort, he also attracted attention for mistakenly terming the hosts as ‘Scotland.’ While praising the efforts of Netherland bowlers, Babar Azam mistakenly called them ‘Scotland bowlers.’ 

Adding further, Pakistan skipper also lauded the efforts of Naseem Shah and Wasim Jr for making valuable contribution in the game. Earlier, Babar Azam & Co received a major blow ahead of the highly anticipated T20 Asia Cup 2022 as their premium fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi was ruled out of the T20 tournament due to injury. 

Afridi has been advised to stay away from the game for four to six weeks which will also mark his absence from the England series. Muhammad Hasnain has been announced as the replacement of the Afridi on Monday and will join the squad in UAE.