Pakistan win against Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe v Pakistan, 1st Test, Harare, 5th day

Spinners, Junaid rout Zimbabwe

Pakistan 249 (Azhar Ali 78, Misbah 53) and 419 for 9 dec (Younis 200*, Akmal 64) beat Zimbabwe 327 (Waller 70, Chigumbura 69, Raza 60, Ajmal 7-95) and 120 (Ajmal 4-23, Rehman 4-36) by 221 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

The probability of Zimbabwe holding out for a draw was extinguished early on the final morning, not by the expected threat Saeed Ajmal, but by Junaid Khan and Abdur Rehman. On a wearing pitch with turn and uneven bounce, Zimbabwe's batsmen were simply ill equipped to combat a situation where only longevity at the crease, and not runs, mattered.

Ajmal returned for a second spell late in the session and cut through the tail, striking twice in an over to complete the fourth ten-wicket haul of his Test career. Pakistan took the nine wickets they needed during an extended session, and while they were always favourites to close out this contest, they might have expected Zimbabwe to be less feeble.

With the luxury of runs, Misbah-ul-Haq deployed his catchers: three slips and a gully for Junaid, and a slip, a leg gully, a forward short leg and a short midwicket for Ajmal. As Zimbabwe's batsmen prodded tentatively off front foot and back, the cries from these men grew louder.

Junaid ensured Pakistan's wait for success was brief. In his first over, he delivered one that angled into the right-hander from round the wicket but the ball did not bounce as much as Hamilton Masakadza thought it would from short of a length. He held his wrists around waist height, playing no shot, and the ball crashed into the bat near the gloves and popped up to gully. In his next over, Junaid trapped Vusi Sibanda lbw with one that kept lower. Zimbabwe were 19 for 3 before the coffee had cooled.