Zimbabwe vs Pakistan, 2nd Test, Harare
Zimbabwe's rarest and Pakistan's narrowest
Stats highlights from Zimbabwe's rare triumph against Pakistan at Harare
- Zimbabwe's Test win against Pakistan, at Harare, was only their fifth
against Test-playing nations excluding Bangladesh. Pakistan have been
at the receiving end three times. India have lost two Tests against
Zimbabwe. The last time Zimbabwe won a Test against a major Test-playing
nation was in 2001, when they beat India by four wickets. This was their 11th win in Tests from 93 Tests; six of these wins have come against Bangladesh.
- The last time Zimbabwe drew a Test series against a major
Test-playing nation, before this, was in 2001 against India with an
identical score-line. This was only their eighth drawn series against
the major Test-playing nations. They have two series wins, one each
against Pakistan and India. The series win
against Pakistan in 1998 was an away series involving three Tests,
which Zimbabwe won 1-0. Zimbabwe had won their first series ever, just
over a month before that, beating India in a one-off Test in Harare.
- This was the first instance of two Zimbabwe bowlers taking five-wicket hauls in a Test win. Brian Vitori and Tendai Chatara, both joined Andy Blignaut, Heath Streak and Henry Olonga as the only Zimbabwe bowlers to take a five-wicket haul in Test wins.
- This was Zimbabwe's closest win
in term of runs; their narrowest win before this match was against
India at the same venue in 1998, when they won by a margin of 61 runs.
This was also Pakistan's narrowest Test loss, in terms of runs, beating their loss to England at Leeds in 1971 by just one run.
- This calendar year is truly a rare one for Zimbabwe: they
have won two or more Tests in the same year only twice since their Test
debut in 1992. The year 2001 was the best in terms of the number of wins, when they won four Tests, one against India and three against Bangladesh.
- The eleventh hour change of the venue increased
Zimbabwe's chances of winning, at least statistically, with seven of
their previous ten Test wins having come at the venue. With this win,
their tally of wins at the Harare Sports Club has gone up to eight from 31 Tests. Four
of their five Test wins against Pakistan and India have come at this
venue. Zimbabwe have won only one away Test, against Pakistan, at Peshawar in 1998.
- Misbah-ul-Haq's 79 is the second-highest unbeaten score by a captain in a losing cause in chases in Tests. Clive Lloyd's
91 against Australia at the MCG in 1976 is the highest. Misbah's 79* is
only the tenth instance of a captain remaining unbeaten on a score of
fifty or more in unsuccessful chases in Tests.
- Misbah's 79 also equals the highest score by a Pakistan captain in a losing cause in the fourth innings of a Test. Javed Miandad also scored 79 against Australia at Perth in 1981.
- Younis Khan won the third Man-of-the-Series award of his career in this series, the most by a Pakistan batsman. He has drawn level with Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Yousuf.
Zimbabwe's historic 24-run win
in the second Test to level the series 1-1 made Pakistan drop from
fourth to sixth place in the ICC Test rankings. Zimbabwe also returned
to the rankings for the first time since May 2007 and are at ninth
place, 24 rating points ahead of Bangladesh who are at the bottom of the
table.
Pakistan, on the other hand, conceded five rating points and dropped
behind Australia and West Indies. They had moved to fourth position only
last month after England beat Australia 3-0 in the Ashes.
Zimbabwe had started the series unranked and would have finished ninth
irrespective of the result of the series. They had pulled out of Test
cricket in January 2006 and returned with a series against Bangladesh in
August 2011, but could not find a place on the rankings table until now
having not played the requisite eight qualifying Tests.
Pakistan's next Test series will be against No. 1 ranked South Africa
with the first of two matches starting on October 14 in Abu Dhabi.
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