Sharjah: Pakistan's revamped cricket team under captain Rashid Latif won the four- nation Sharjah Cup with an eight-wicket demolition of Zimbabwe in the final here on Thursday.

The 2,000th One-day International in cricket's history produced a lacklustre contest as Pakistan skittled Zimbabwe for 168 and then romped home easily in the 36th over.

Left-handed opener Taufiq Umer hit an unbeaten 81 and Yousuf Youhana contributed 61 not out during a match-winning stand of 144 for the unbroken third wicket.

Pakistan's 14th title at this off-shore desert venue came without eight senior stars, including Wasim Akram and captain Waqar Younis, who were sacked following the first round exit at last month's World Cup.

The new-look team under Latif and coach Javed Miandad made a promising start by winning all its three league matches against Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Kenya before brushing aside Zimbabwe in a one-sided final.

A capacity crowd of 20,000 at the Sharjah cricket stadium saw Zimbabwe crumble in the first session after captain Heath Streak won the toss and elected to bat.

Young wicket-keeper Tatenda Taibu was the lone batsman to defy the Pakistani bowlers, making an unbeaten 74 as seven others failed to reach double figures.

Zimbabwe was struggling at 133-9 before last man Douglas Hondo (nine) helped Taibu add 35 runs.

Seamer Mohamad Sami and off spinner Shoaib Malik finished with three wickets apiece. Danish Kaneria and Mohammad Hafeez picked up two each.

Zimbabwe never recovered after the three-wicket burst from Sami reduced them to 36-4 by the 13th over.

Taibu and Sean Ervine dug in to retrieve the situation, but their 46-run stand for the fifth wicket was rudely cut short by Indian umpire AV Jayaprakash, who ruled Ervine caught down the leg-side by Latif as the batsman attempted to sweep.

Television replays showed the ball clearly miss the edge of the bat. Ervine made 25.

Zimbabwe moved to 122-5 when three wickets crashed in the space of five runs as Kaneria dismissed Dion Ebrahim and Hafeez got rid of Streak and Andy Blignaut in consecutive overs.

When Pakistan batted, Streak removed Hafeez in his second over and Faisal Iqbal in his fourth to make it 28-2, but Taufiq and Youhana settled in to see their team home.

"I am proud the way the young players performed over the last one week," Miandad said. "But now comes the hard part because they have to maintain this standard in future. It's no use winning one tournament and failing in the next. We have to be consistent."

Pakistan's next engagement is a One-day series in Sri Lanka in May against New Zealand and the hosts.

Zimbabwe, scheduled to tour England later this month, reached the final without the services of Andy Flower, Henry Olonga, Guy Whittall and Alistair Campbell, who all retired after the World Cup.

"We did well to get to the final but failed to put up enough runs on the board to challenge Pakistan," Streak said.

"It is something we have to work on if we have to do well in England."

Copyright AFP 2001

Extras:
Sami wrecks Zim top-order, Taibu plays lone hand
Zimbabwe elects to bat in Sharjah Cup final
Scorecard of Final-Pak vs Zim