Zimbabwe vs Pakistan, 1st ODI Match Summary

The stacked international cricketing calendar of 2024 seems to be ending the year with a whole host of series all across the globe and now, Zimbabwe welcome Pakistan for a three-match ODI series followed by a T20I series as well. The first ODI will be played at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo as both sides get into the groove for ODI action, Pakistan more so as they continue their preparation for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy in a couple of months time or so. Zimbabwe haven't faced a full member nation in white-ball cricket since they welcomed India a fair few months ago in July but they have been playing competitive cricket in the ICC T20 World Cup, Sub Regional African Qualifiers, Group B and they demolished every opponent in their path. Their squad also includes as many as three uncapped players for this upcoming series but all eyes will be on the likes of skipper Craig Ervine along with the likes of Sikandar Raza and Sean Williams. They have more than a decent pace attack featuring the likes of Blessing Muzarabani and Richard Ngarava but it still needs a bit more oomph and the batting too seems a bit undercooked if you take out 2-3 players. Pakistan on the other hand are fresh off their superb ODI series win in Australia against the hosts where they came back from 1-0 down to match the series. Most of the core team that featured in Australia has been retained but there's no Babar Azam or even the pace duo of Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi for that matter. Mohammad Rizwan will continue to lead the side featuring the likes of Saim Ayub, Haris Rauf and Irfan Khan who have done well in recent times but overall, it is a fairly inexperienced side filled with budding talent. They will be confident even after being clean swept in the T20I series against the Aussies as they did win the ODI series and will be expected to gun for another away series win with a probable home ICC Champions Trophy on the horizon. Who are you backing to take the lead in the series?