Pakistan cruised to an eight-wicket victory with nearly half of their overs to spare after bundling Zimbabwe out for a lowly 128 in Harare on Thursday, with both teams qualifying for the ICC U-19 World Cup Super Sixes at the end of the match.

Former champions Pakistan qualified for the Super Sixes of the ongoing ICC U-19 World Cup on Thursday after thrashing Zimbabwe by eight wickets in Harare. The Farhan Yousaf-led side, which had recently won the U-19 Asia Cup in the UAE after
thrashing arch-rivals India by 191 runs in the final, bundled the World Cup hosts out for a paltry 128 after opting to field, thanks mainly to the contributions of pacers Ali Raza (3/16) and Abdul Subhan (2/14).

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In-form opener Sameer Minhas later struck an unbeaten 74 as the 2006 U-19 world champions recovered from Ali Hassan Baloch’s early dismissal and chased the target down with nearly half of the overs to spare.

It wasn’t exactly a run-of-the-mill chase from Pakistan though, and many couldn’t help but notice a pattern in the manner in which they approached the chase. The Pakistanis, after all, appeared to take their sweet time as far as advancing towards the target was concerned, not collecting a single boundary from the first delivery of the 12th over all the way to the first two balls of the 27th – in which Minhas sealed his team’s victory with back-to-back sixes.

Sameer Minhas’ unbeaten 74 guided Pakistan to victory against Zimbabwe in the #U19WorldCup 👏

He wins the @aramco POTM award 🎖️ pic.twitter.com/2M1AtzqR4J

— ICC (@ICC) January 22, 2026Why Pakistan took it easy in run chase against Zimbabwe

One couldn’t help but notice the fact that such an approach helped Zimbabwe narrowly beat Scotland on Net Run Rate and advance to the Super Sixes along with England and Pakistan, both teams finishing with a point each. Zimbabwe needed to stretch Pakistan’s chase beyond 25.1 overs if they were to qualify, and that is exactly what happened at the Takashinga Sports Club in the Zimbabwean capital on Thursday.

The reason behind Pakistan’s approach is simple – the format of the 2026 U-19 World Cup isn’t similar to what was in existence in the 1999 ICC World Cup. Each team that advances to the Super Sixes carries forward the points, wins and Net Run Rate earned against other teams in their group that have also advanced to the second round.

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While Pakistan defeated both Scotland and Zimbabwe, it was their victory over the latter that was a lot more clinical and had a greater impact on their NRR, and was thus in Yousaf and Co’s interest to ensure that the hosts advanced to the next stage.

Andy Flower doesn’t mind Pakistan’s strategy

Was it a fair call by the Pakistanis though? Their strategy certainly has left the cricketing community divided with many wondering whether it violated the ‘Spirit of Cricket’ or not. According to Zimbabwean cricket legend Andy Flower, it was an understandable call from the Pakistani camp.

“They needed to first establish they weren’t going to lose the game, and then they just slowed down to make sure Zimbabwe got through. Some people may question the ethics of that, but I personally don’t,” said the former Zimbabwe captain.

England, Pakistan and Zimbabwe from Group C will be joined by the top-three teams from Group B, in where the Ayush Mhatre-led Indian team currently sit at the top spot with four points with New Zealand at second with two and Bangladesh and USA with one point each.

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