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RAWALPINDI: Pakistan off-spinner Usman Tariq on Sunday entered an elite list after claiming a hat-trick against Zimbabwe in the tri-series fixture here at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
Usman achieved the feat in the 10th over of Zimbabwe’s innings, which left the Chevrons reeling at 60-7.
The right-armer, first Tony Munyonga, for one, cleaned up Tashinga Musekiwa for duck, and lastly removed Wellington Masakadza to record a landmark feat.
The 30-year-old became the fourth Pakistani player to bag a hat-trick in the shorter format.
Hat-tricks for Pakistan in T20Is
Faheem Ashraf against Sri Lanka in 2017
Mohammad Hasnain against Sri Lanka in 2019
Mohammad Nawaz against Afghanistan 2025
Usman Tariq against Zimbabwe 2025
Batting first here under lights at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Pakistan piled up 195-5 in their 20 overs.
Saim Ayub and Sahibzada Farhan added 29 for the opening wicket in 2.3 overs. The former was caught after scoring 13 from 8 with the help of two sixes.
Following the early wicket, Sahibzada Farhan and Babar Azam forged a 103-run stand as both players flexed their muscles at the back end of the innings.
Farhan, who remained the core aggressor, made 63 from 41 balls, laced with three maximums and four boundaries, while Babar played the second fiddle and hit two sixes and seven fours on his way to 74 from 52 balls.
Sahibzada departed in the 15th over when Pakistan were cruising at 132 in 15.2 overs.
Nonetheless, it was Fakhar Zaman’s cameo in the last over that took Pakistan near the 200-run mark. The southpaw, who came down the order, hit three sixes in his 27 from just 10 balls.
For Zimbabwe, Sikandar Raza picked up two wickets in his quota of four overs.
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