Mohammad Nawaz, who made 22, brought the target down to 11 off the last over and Mohammad Wasim narrowed it to three off the last three deliveries before Brad Evans had Nawaz caught at long off and then Shaheen Afridi was run out off the final ball with Pakistan falling short of the target.
Earlier, Pakistan’s tactics of going with four fast bowlers worked out well with Wasim picking up 4-24 and Shadab bowling a tidy spell of 3-23 in the middle overs.
Zimbabwe got off to a flying start of 42 in five overs before slipping to 95-7, losing four wickets for no runs. Sean Williams top-scored with 31 before Shadab ignited the collapse by clean bowling Williams and Babar Azam grabbed a superb one-handed catch offered by Regis Chakabva over his head in the lone slip.
Kohli guides India home
Elsewhere, Virat Kohli guided his team to 179-2 after India chose to bat first. India captain Rohit Sharma scored 53 while Suryakumar Yadav hit 51 not out off 25 balls and shared an important partnership with Kohli which accelerated the innings.
In reply, the Netherlands couldn’t last against a quality Indian attack and finished at 123-9.
“It was a near perfect win for us. We were slow at the start but we needed to take time on this pitch,” said Sharma, who criticised his own 39-ball innings. “Not too happy, but runs are important even if they are ugly runs.”
Earlier, Lokesh Rahul (9) fell cheaply for the second game running.
Kohli and Sharma then put on 73 runs off 56 balls for the second wicket. Sharma hit four fours and three sixes, bringing up his half-century off 35 balls. He was caught in the 12th over.
India was at 84-2 and still only scoring at seven per over. Kohli and Yadav then put on 95 runs off 48 balls. Yadav hit seven fours and a six, the latter bringing up his half-century off the last ball of the Indian innings.
Kohli’s half-century had come off 37 balls, including three fours and two sixes. India’s final acceleration put the game beyond its opponents’ reach.
Indian spinners strangled the Netherlands’ chase. Axar Patel recovered from a mauling against Pakistan and took 2-18 in four overs. It was in that game that Kohli scored a match-winning 82 not out off 53 balls.
Ravichandran Ashwin had 2-21 against the Netherlands. He dismissed Colin Ackermann (17) and Tom Cooper (9) in the same over.
Tim Pringle was the top Dutch scorer with 20 off 15 but the result was never in doubt against an impressive display by the Indian bowlers. Bhuvneshwar Kumar had economical figures of 2-9 in three overs. Arshdeep Singh took 2-37 while Mohammed Shami finished with 1-27.
Record-breaking performance in South African win
Rilee Rossouw plundered 109 from 56 deliveries for South Africa against Bangladesh.
After brief concerns about rain, South Africa batted first and posted 205-5. Rossouw and Quinton de Kock put on 163 runs off 81 balls for the second wicket for the highest South African partnership ever at the tournament.
De Kock scored 50 off 33 balls and was eventually out for 63 off 38 balls, including seven fours and three sixes.
The Proteas then skittled Bangladesh for 101 with Anrich Nortje picking up four wickets.
“Clinical in terms of performance,” South Africa captain Temba Bavuma said. “The batting lineup has shaped up quite nicely.”
