Zimbabwe v Pakistan: Only Test – Positives for Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe lost to Pakistan by seven wickets in the only Test match of the series played between the two nations at the Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo in Zimbabwe on Monday, September 5, 2011.
The hosts would have been disappointed with the result, as they were in a good position to save the match until the dramatic turn around on the fourth day. However, there were still a lot of positives for the African team, which will boost their confidence
for the future series.
One of the biggest positives for Zimbabwe in the match was the performance of opening batsman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Tino-Mawoyo-c2683. The youngster scored an unbeaten 163 runs in his first innings, carrying his bat until the end.
The best thing about Mawoyo is his calm temperament, which is essential for a Test cricketer. He batted for a long period of time, but did not throw his wicket away after getting his eye in.
The 25 year old faced 453 balls in his solid knock and stood at the crease for 645 minutes. He was a touch lucky, getting a couple of chances, but did not panic and capitalised on the opportunity he was given.
Mawoyo’s opening partner http://www.senore.com/Cricket/V-Sibanda-c2740 was also impressive at the top of the order. Although he failed to make a big impression in the overall game, his performance in the first innings was a pretty decent one.
Sibanda collected 45 runs in his first outing out of the 71-run opening partnership alongside Mawoyo. This was a fabulous effort from the team’s openers, as they were put into bat by the opposition’s skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972.
The pitch had some grass one it and Pakistan had three seamers in their line-up. This indicated that the home side would struggle in the first couple of sessions of play.
However, The Zimbabwean openers battled the conditions bravely, which was a very positive sign for the team.
Apart from the openers, the home team’s middle-order also performed decently. Wicketkeeper batsman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/T-Taibu-c2630 was the only player who contributed solid runs in both his outings.
The veteran keeper collected 44 in the first innings followed by a valiant knock of 58 in his second outing. He has been serving Zimbabwe for quite a long time and still has plenty of years ahead, considering he is 28 years old.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zimbabwe-c3045 at the international level, is a handy cricketer. The composed left-handed player has the ability to play aggressively just like his sibling.
Ervine scored 49 against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 in the first innings of the match, which was his highest score in Test cricket. He has only featured twice in the longest version of the game and has a long way to go.
Zimbabwe’s debutant http://www.senore.com/Cricket/GA-Lamb-c1450 had a decent outing, as he scored some runs and chipped in with wickets as well. He collected 39 runs in his first ever Test outing and took three wickets in the match. His addition to the team proved to be a positive one.
Other than the positives from the batting side, the hosts also did a respectable job with the ball. They dismissed 13 Pakistani batsmen in the entire match, which is not bad. The tourists required just 88 runs for victory, which made their job easy.
However, Ray Price, Lamb and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Kyle-Malcolm-Jarvis-c71974 proved to be a very good bowling unit against a strong Pakistani line-up.
The hosts will now look to take their positives in the limited-over cricket and challenge the opposition with their talent.
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