http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 v Zimbabwe: Only Test – Comprehensive Analysis – Part-1
Pakistan defeated Zimbabwe by seven wickets in the only Test match of the series at the Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo in Zimbabwe on Monday, September 5, 2011.
The match took a dramatic turn around on day four’s play, but before that it was headed towards a draw. The hosts were bowled out for just 141 runs in their second innings, which allowed the Men in Green to take victory in the morning session of the final
day’s play.
Earlier, Pakistan’s skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972 opted to field first after winning the toss. There was some grass on the pitch, which suggested that the ball might get some pace off the wicket.
Misbah had three seamers in the side and decided to make most of the conditions. His decision at the toss did not prove to be a very good one, as the hosts got off to a solid start.
Pakistan had an inexperienced bowling line-up with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sohail-Khan-c90647 playing only his second Test match. This allowed the home team to score a solid first innings total, denting the hopes of the tourists.
Zimbabwe’s innings was started by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/V-Sibanda-c2740. The pair played steadily and put together 71 runs for the first wicket partnership. They did not seem to have any problems against the pace attack of the opposition.
However, things changed when off-spinner http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Saeed-Ajmal-c87859 was brought into the attack. He did not take much time to get his line set and dismissed Sibanda with a beautifully disguised doosra.
The opening batsman left his crease and was beaten in flight. He also thought the ball was coming into him, but it turned away into the hands of the wicketkeeper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Adnan-Akmal-c42042, who did not make any mistake behind the stumps.
Sibanda was the first wicket to fall in the home team’s innings. He scored 45 runs with the help of nine boundaries.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/H-Masakadza-c1517 walked out in the middle to face the music. He struggled to score runs against the quality spin bowling of Ajmal and was finally undone by a quicker delivery from the off-spinner.
The first-drop player managed only 11 runs with the help of a couple of fours. He attempted to pull a shorter and quicker delivery, but missed the ball completely and was clean bowled.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/BRM-Taylor-c1200 was the next man to walk in. He failed to make an impression and was caught leg-before-wicket (lbw) after adding 10 runs to the total. He became Ajmal’s third victim of the day.
The African team was in a spot of bother at that stage of the innings, losing three wickets for 111. They were struggling to bat against Ajmal, who had picked up all three wickets to fall until then.
However, Mawoyo was batting solidly at the crease. He did not panic at all and continued to hurt the opposition with his rock solid defence.
The solid opener needed some support from the other end though, which was provided to him by veteran wicketkeeper batsman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/T-Taibu-c2630. The pair collected 65 runs for the fourth wicket partnership, guiding the team into a solid position.
Taibu was well set at 44, but gave his wicket away towards the end of play on day one. He attempted a hard cut off a short and wide delivery, which found the edge of the bat and landed safely into the hands of the keeper.
The hosts ended day one at 245/4 with Ajmal picking up three wickets for Pakistan.
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