The victory was propelled by Abrar Ahmed s four-wicket haul, followed by a quickfire century by Saim Ayub.

Thanks to the century, Pakistan comfortably chased the 146-run target without losing a wicket and 190 balls to spare.

Saim dominated the match-winning partnership with sensational hitting, which witnessed him scoring his maiden ODI century in just 53 balls.

Saim scored 113 off just 62 balls, studded with 20 boundaries including three sixes, while Abdullah Shafique made 32 not out.

In men s ODIs, the left-handed batter’s brisk century was the third-fastest by a Pakistan batter only behind legendary all-rounder Shahid Afridi.

Earlier, Zimbabwe opted to bat first and could manage 145 runs before getting bundled out in the 33rd over.

The hosts had a shaky start to their innings as their openers Tadiwanashe Marumani (4) and Joylord Gumbie (5) perished after making meagre contributions.

Afterwards, top-order batter Dion Myers and skipper Craig Ervine briefly anchored the innings with a 38-run partnership.

Myers fell victim to Salman Ali Agha in the 13th over. He remained the top-scorer for the hosts with a 30-ball 33, laced with six boundaries.

Agha dismissed Ervine and Sikandar Raza in quick succession, reducing the hosts to 97/5 in 20.2 overs.

Sean Williams could score 31 runs off 39 deliveries. Following his departure in the 26th over with 121 runs on the board, Zimbabwe could add 24 runs for the loss of their remaining wickets despite Blessing Muzarabani’s 11-run cameo.

After this victory, Pakistan have levelled the three-match series 1-1, with the final ODI scheduled to take place on Thursday at the same venue.

Captain Mohammad Rizwan shouldered more batting responsibility, while Abdullah Shafique and Saim Ayub got opportunities to make the opening slots theirs. How Pakistan balance the side is also a point of interest after they went into the Australia ODIs playing just four specialist fast bowlers, planning on simply bowling Australia out in 40 overs.