Pakistan vs Zimbabwe, 1st ODI: What is the pitch report of the Queens Sports Club Bulawayo?

New Delhi: Since the appointment of Mohammad Rizwan and the removal of Gary Kirsten as the head coach of the ODI team, the Pakistani cricket team has experienced an unusual momentum in ODIs.

Recently, the men in green won the ODI series for the first time in 22 years in Australia in their backyard. Now, the Falcons will look to extend their good form when they take on the Zimbabwe side in the first ODI.

Coming to Zimbabwe, the series marks the first set of ODI fixtures for the Zimbabwe cricket team since their three-match rubber in Sri Lanka back in January this year.

Pakistan vs Zimbabwe 1st ODI: Probable Playing XIs 

Zimbabwe XI: Joylord Gumbie, Dion Myers, Sean Williams, Craig Ervine (c), Brian Bennett, Sikandar Raza, Clive Madande (wk), Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani, Faraz Akram and Trevor Gwandu

Pakistan XI: Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Tayyab Tahir, Mohammad Rizwan (c and wk), Kamran Ghulam, Agha Salman, Irfan Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf and Mohammad Hasnain

How will the Bulawayo pitch behave for the 1st ODI?

Seeing the past trends of Bulawayo, the pitch at the Queens Sports Club will be conducive for fast bowling in the initial stages of the. The venue generally provides prodigious swing and a hint of seam movement to the new ball bowlers in the first innings.

But once the sun shines brightly over the pitch, the track will dry up and become a batting-friendly track. Batsmen will enjoy the pitch’s pace and bounce as the game progresses further.

Coming to the spinners who will be the key for both sides, there will be a hint of turn in the middle overs. However, the conditions in the afternoon will heavily favour the batters, with the pacers hitting the hard length and using cutters to succeed with the old ball. Considering the seam-friendly conditions in the morning and the track gets better for batting with time, the toss-winning team will likely bowl first.