The last time a test-playing nation toured cricket-loving Pakistan was in 2009, when militants attacked Sri Lanka's team bus in the same city, killing eight people and wounding several players.
Zimbabwe ranks 10th in international test cricket rankings, below Bangladesh, but the team's decision to travel to Pakistan despite reservations among some of the team has been greeted with huge excitement in the host country.
"I postponed all my engagements, bought an expensive ticket and came to see the match just to convey a clear message to the terrorists and their mentors: we are not afraid of you," said Shahzad Hussain, who works at a pharmaceutical company.
Pakistan delighted the raucous home supporters, who cheered every run as their team successfully chased down Zimbabwe's total of 172 runs in the action-packed three-hour game.
Hussain was one of thousands of fans streaming to the match venue on a sultry evening in the eastern city of Lahore.
Haider Ashraf, a senior Lahore police official, said around 6,000 regular police and hundreds of police commandos had been deployed at the stadium and along the route from the hotel where the Zimbabwe team has been staying.
The security presence underlines Pakistan's determination to ensure an incident-free tour, amid hopes more teams will agree to visit in spite of continuing attacks by Islamist militants across the country.
Zimbabwe's visit, which includes two Twenty20 internationals and a three-match one-day series, was thrown into further doubt earlier this month when militants attacked a bus in the southern port city of Karachi, killing 47 people.
All of Zimbabwe's matches will take place in Lahore.
The International Cricket Council decided not to send match officials for the series, but said this would not affect the status of the games which would remain full internationals.
Among those umpiring Friday's match was Pakistani Ahsan Raza, who was seriously wounded in the 2009 attack.
He spent 29 days in hospital recovering from a bullet to the lung, but has made a full recovery.
"Unfortunately I was part of the incident which suspended all international cricket in Pakistan," he told local press on the eve of the match. "Now I am fortunate enough to be part of the cricket revival."
(Writing by Mike Collett-White; editing by Ralph Boulton)
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