Zimbabwe beat Pakistan. Third Test win against Pakistan

Zimbabwe v Pakistan, 2nd Test, Harare, 5th day

'Beating a world-class team is a wonderful feeling' - Taylor

Brendan Taylor has praised his team's "character", coming back from the big loss in the first Test to square the series with a thrilling 24-run win. The victory against Pakistan was their first against a team other than Bangladesh since 2001, and Taylor gave the credit to his bowlers.

"We've done a lot of hard work. We haven't had a bowling coach in six months and that's a credit to them [the bowlers]," Taylor said after the match. "Beating a world-class team is a wonderful feeling. Everyone's contributed, [but] there's still plenty of room for improvement and we'll try to better ourselves."

Zimbabwe came into the final day of the second Test needing five wickets for a win, while Pakistan needed 106 runs. In the first session, they managed to knock over three wickets, but were not able to dislodge Misbah-ul-Haq. Misbah came back after lunch and played a few positive shots to eat into the runs required.

Scoring more quickly was a conscious decision, Misbah said: "It's very simple. If they give me something [to work with], then I'll be positive because it's all about scoring runs. That's what I was doing. I was hoping that someone would stay with me. That's all you can do."

However, the new ball upset Misbah's plans. Taylor took it as soon as it was available and gave it to Tendai Chatara, who had Junaid Khan playing and missing a couple of times before producing an edge with a well-directed length ball. No. 11 Rahat Ali poked at the next ball, the edge fell short at gully and Misbah called him through for a single on the penultimate ball of the over.

Next ball, it was all over with a run-out - Misbah pushed into the covers, Ali ran probably with a view of getting Misbah back on strike for the following over, Misbah tried to send him back, but it was too late. It was Hamilton Masakadza who threw the ball at the non-striker's end to Tinashe Panyangara, who whipped off the bails.

Masakadza said he was still thinking of a missed run-out opportunity in the first over after lunch when this one came along: "I was going to have a shy at the stumps but fortunately Chocky [Panyangara] came up and I saw him just in time. I was getting ready to really let it go. And there was that run-out opportunity in the first over [after lunch] and I was thinking about it all the time, so quite relieved that we managed to get the run-out in the end.

"It's huge, the way we lost the first Test and the fact that we've not beaten one of the bigger sides, only having beaten Bangladesh since we got back to Test cricket, this is really big for us."

 

Zimbabwe v Pakistan, 2nd Test Pakistan claw back with late strikes

Zimbabwe v Pakistan, 2nd Test, Harare, 3rd day

Pakistan claw back with late strikes

Pakistan's collapse against the second new ball and determined batting from Tino Mawoyo and Hamilton Masakadza put Zimbabwe slightly ahead in the second and final Test. Zimbabwe's fast bowlers ripped through Pakistan on either side of lunch, the visitors collapsing from 211 for 4 to 230 all out. Mawoyo and Masakadza then built the lead to 185, but their dismissals, at the stroke of stumps, helped Pakistan to claw back.

Brian Vitori, in his first Test in nearly 20 months, did most of the damage with the ball, claiming his maiden five-wicket haul, while Tinashe Panyangara dislodged the solid Younis Khan for 77. Zimbabwe's efforts earned them a 64-run lead, to go along with a 78-run first-innings advantage in the first Test.

Pakistan's strategy in the morning seemed to be to try and get through to the ball change, due in 12 overs at the start, with their overnight pair of Misbah and Younis. That was a sensible thought, the pair having added 67 in a rebuilding effort the previous evening. But the manner in which both executed that strategy stalled Pakistan. Only 19 runs were added in the 12 overs leading up to the new ball, five of them from part-timer Elton Chigumbura.

Admittedly, as on the previous day, run-scoring wasn't easy on the pitch. The ball wasn't quite coming on, the medium-pace and disciplined lengths of the Zimbabwe seamers weren't helping and the cracks on the good length area would have been on the minds of the batsmen. Still, 48 runs from 28 overs in the morning session was too sluggish a scoring rate.

After successfully making it to the new ball in his chosen way, Misbah decided to change his approach. The second delivery Vitori bowled with the new one, a wide one outside off, Misbah lunged to drive and edged to first slip for 33 from 120 balls. It was the third successive time in the series Misbah had fallen after getting a start and also the third successive time he had given it away trying a forcing stroke against the run of play.

Asad Shafiq hung around for a while before he was bowled by a sharp incutter from Tendai Chatara, stuck on the crease in a dismissal identical to the way he had gone in the second innings of the first Test.

Pakistan ran only eight singles in the first session and went to lunch on 211 for 5, still 83 behind Zimbabwe's 294. After the break, Younis came out appearing intent to make amends for Pakistan's sedate start. He drove at everything that was pitched up. Panyangara gave him three successive such deliveries, wide outside off, all of which were driven. The fourth one was bowled into the pad. Younis, with his instinct to push forward, could not keep the flick down and midwicket took the catch.

It was mostly down to Adnan Akmal now, Abdur Rehman having gone lbw first ball to Panyangara. But unlike the second innings of the first Test, the wicketkeeper disappointed. He was beaten on the drive by Vitori, bowling from round the wicket, but went for a similar expansive stroke next ball, and was taken at second slip. Unlike Zimbabwe's last pair, there was absolutely no resistance from Pakistan's tail, Vitori snapping up the last two to end with 5 for 61.

Zimbabwe were hampered at the start of their second innings, the ill Vusi Sibanda unable to open. The offspinner Prosper Utseya, who usually bats at No. 8, was promoted instead, but did not last long. Mawoyo and Masakadza, though, hung in to get through the 14 overs till tea. The often unplayable zip and movement Junaid Khan had generated in the first innings was absent, and that allowed the duo to settle in. Both drove well off the front foot, especially against the spinners.

There were a few hiccups after tea, chiefly against Rehman. But luck favoured Zimbabwe. Masakadza played back and was beaten off two successive pitched-up deliveries from Rehman that stayed low, but just missed off stump. Rehman got the odd ball to kick from around the same spot, but was unlucky to miss the edge. When he found it, with Mawoyo on 52, Adnan dropped the catch.

Rehman's perseverance finally brought him just reward, with only two more overs left, as Mawoyo was trapped in front on 58 with an arm ball. Four deliveries later, Rahat rapped Masakadza on the pad, and umpire Steve Davis upheld the appeal, replays suggesting the ball may have missed off on the angle. Two deliveries later, Rehman struck again, having the nightwatchman Chatara pop one to short leg. Zimbabwe's lead was 15 short of 200, but Rehman had ensured Pakistan were still in the game.

 

Zimbabwe v Pakistan, 2nd Test, Harare, Highlights The milestone The celebration

Zimbabwe v Pakistan, 2nd Test, Harare, 2nd day

Vitori's handstand and the run-out verdict

Plays of the day for the second day of the second Test in Harare

The celebration

It's not often a batting team celebrates being bowled out, but when Tendai Chatara and Brian Vitori left the field, they did. Zimbabwe had managed 294, a total which seemed unlikely when they finished day one on 237 for 8. The last pair put on 46 runs on a tricky surface so even when Chatara was judged lbw to Abdur Rehman, there was reason to be cheerful. As the two bowlers hurried off, they high-fived each other on a job well done and wore satisfied grins, no doubt because of their effort with the bat.

The warm-up

Vitori had spent enough time on the park to consider himself warmed up and he did not take part in as many of the pre-fielding activities as the rest. He did, however, ensure he completed what must be a personal ritual for getting ready to bowl. After taking his position at fine leg and looking around to make sure as few people as possible were watching, Vitori proceeded to complete a perfect handstand. With hands firmly on the ground, he extended his legs in the air and stayed in the position for a couple of seconds before resuming an upright position.

The decision

The third umpire has not been needed much in this match but when he was called on, he had a tricky decision to make. Khurram Manzoor became another victim of Younis Khan's uncertain running when he was sent back after thinking of a sneaky single and was found short of his crease when Richmond Mutumbami broke the stumps. The only question was whether the wicketkeeper had done so legally with ball in hand, for there was some doubt if he had accidentally knocked the bails with his body first. Several replays later, Owen Chirombe was confident enough to send Manzoor on his way.

The pose

Vitori was convinced he had taken a second wicket when Manzoor shouldered arms late to a delivery that went down the leg side. He and wicketkeeper Mutumbami both went up, convinced Manzoor had edged but the batsman had the more persuasive body language. Manzoor remained standing, still as a statue arms in the air, bat aloft as if to indicate he had only been leaving the ball. Steve Davis agreed.

The milestone

It did not come through with any elegance but Younis Khan probably would not have minded. An edge, produced by Vitori, snuck through the gap between the slips and gully and scuttled to the boundary. It brought up two important milestones for Younis - his fifty and 7,000 runs in Test cricket.

And when Pakistan landed in Zimbabwe, the expectations were high for Pak. As luck would have it, they lost the first ODI and bounced back immediately and won the series. Zimbabwe team always use to bring in surpises like they did in WC 1983 when they beat Aussies and beat Pakistanis in their own backyard in Peshawar and they even defeated in Pakistan by an Innings ( and of course Pak immediately handed them an Innnings defeat) and Pak is the only team to suffer so in Tests. But the ongoing season doesn't seem to bring in any surprise by Zimbabwe team. This may be due to their not playing top test teams regularly and playing matches only against minnows like Bangladesh, West indies. As has been rightly pointed by this writer Firdose to give chance to Zimbabwe team by ICC and other Boards. The worry for the Cricket Boards may be more of their commercial interests rather than cricketing reasons. Hope better sense will prevail upon the Administrators to include Zim in FTP.

 

Zimbabwe v Pakistan, 2nd Test, Harare, 1st day

Masakadza-Taylor stand lifts Zimbabwe

Hamilton Masakadza, in company of Brendan Taylor, made sure that Zimbabwe consolidated after yet another poor start in the second Test in Harare as the pitch, which had seemed unplayable in the first hour, eased out in the second session. The century partnership between the two was a story of two halves; first, dominated by Masakadza and second, by Taylor. Zimbabwe scored 100 in the second session for the loss of just one wicket as Pakistan's spinners couldn't impose themselves on the first day as they had over the first Test.

Masakadza and Taylor had come together at the dismissal of Vusi Sibanda with the score on 31 and had watchfully played out till lunch. But in the second session, Masakadza looked to score freely while Taylor soaked up the deliveries at the other end. The batsmen weren't challenged enough by the spin of Abdur Rehman as the spinner didn't receive any assistance from the pitch. Masakadza played most of the flatter deliveries from the crease, but was quick to pounce on anything tossed up, preferring to hit over the infield. One such shot took him to his first half-century against Pakistan. Two overs later, Masakadza punched a quicker one to the cover boundary to bring up the fifty of the partnership, with Taylor scoring only 7.

In the next half though, Taylor assumed the role of the aggressor, announcing his intentions with a scooped one-bounce four off Saeed Ajmal to long-on. In the next over, he chipped one over Rehman's head for yet another boundary. The run-rate hovered around 2.5, but when the opportunities came, Taylor made sure he was ready. He reverse-swept an Ajmal doosra, then creamed a full delivery from Rahat Ali to the cover boundary. As the two batsmen crossed the 100 of the stand, Taylor had taken over the scoring, with 32 runs coming of his bat in the second fifty.

Masakadza, who had gone into a shell in the second session even though he remained solid, was finally dismissed for 75 when he edged a doosra to a diving Mohammad Hafeez at first slip. If Pakistan thought that the wicket was an opening for them to attack the fragile middle-order, they were thwarted for the remainder of the session by some attractive strokeplay from Malcolm Waller.

The second session was in complete contrast from the first session during which only 65 runs were scored. Zimbabwe, after choosing to bat on a fresh pitch, were at sea against the Pakistan fast bowlers in the first hour as the ball darted around. The lost their first wicket off the second delivery of the day and only two runs were scored in the first 40 minutes.

The first delivery of the day bowled by Junaid Khan cut across after pitching and whizzed past Tino Mawoyo's outside edge. The second was a touch fuller and squared up the batsman again with the away movement and the umpire was convinced the ball had taken the edge after the Pakistan team went up in a loud appeal. Replays showed that the ball might have hit the thigh pad along the way and not the bat, but Mawoyo, who has had a poor run of scores opening in Tests, had to go. Pakistan may have been lucky with the first decision, but Zimbabwe had plenty of fortune their way as the session unfolded.

Masakadza misread the first delivery he faced to be an outswinger as he shaped to leave, but saw the ball swung back into him. To the naked eye, it appeared plumb, but the umpire adjudged it was going over the stumps, and rightly so. The next two deliveries of the first over left the batsman before the last one jagged back again. They were the sign of things to come.

Rahat Ali started in the same vein from the other end and with plenty of movement on offer, kept the batsmen guessing, as ball after ball, the batsmen played and missed. He bowled a slightly fuller length and a wider line than Junaid, but induced as many errors.

However, as the pitch started showing some benevolence towards the batsmen and the bowlers started to lose the initial zing, Masakadza took the first initiative and drove Junaid through the on side. The score, for the first time in the day, had some signs of life. Pakistan introduced Younis Khan in the 14th over to bowl first change but the batsmen started picking up singles and hit the odd boundary.

Just when the two batsmen were getting comfortable, Sibanda went for an ambitious pull shot to a delivery outside off and ended up dragging it back on to his stumps, giving Rahat his first wicket in an impressive opening spell. Rahat bowled 10 consecutive overs, seven of which were maidens, and only went for 10 runs. Ajmal, the chief-destroyer from the last match, was introduced in the 18th over, but Masakadza was ready to impose himself every time the ball was tossed up. In Ajmal's second over, he slog swept one into the deep midwicket stands and in the next, thwacked one over the bowler's head.

 

Zimbabwe v Pakistan, 2nd Test, Harare, 1st day

Zimbabwe v Pakistan, 2nd Test, Harare, 1st day

Zimbabwe bat, Taylor and Vitori back

In what could be Zimbabwe's last international match before the World T20s next year, Brendan Taylor, who missed the first Test due to the birth of his first child, chose to bat on a fresh Harare pitch that had questions raised about it on the eve of the Test. Taylor said they competed well for three and a half days of the first Test and hoped the team could raise its game one last time.

"We were basically outplayed by two of their players," Taylor said at the toss in reference to Younis Khan and Saeed Ajmal. With the team batting first, Zimbabwe have at least avoided facing the Pakistan spinners last. But the pitch had a greenish tinge on it and facing the fast bowlers will remain a challenge for Zimbabwe's top order.

Zimbabwe brought in Brian Vitori in place of Shingi Masakadza and Sikandar Raza missed out with the captain coming back into the side. Taylor confirmed that he was not going to keep wicket, so Richmond Mutumbami kept his place in the side.

Pakistan retained the XI that won the first Test.

Zimbabwe 1 Vusi Sibanda, 2 Tino Mawoyo, 3 Hamilton Masakadza, 4 Brendan Taylor (capt), 5 Malcolm Waller, 6 Elton Chigumbura, 7 Richmond Mutumbami (wk), 8 Prosper Utseya, 9 Tinashe Panyangara, 10 Tendai Chatara, 11 Brian Vitori

Pakistan 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Khurram Manzoor, 3 Azhar Ali, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Asad Shafiq, 7 Adnan Akmal (wk), 8 Rahat Ali, 9 Saeed Ajmal, 10 Junaid Khan, 11 Abdur Rehman

For Zimbabwe though, apart from Masakadza and Taylor, none of the batsmen were able to apply themselves against Pakistan's tenacious bowling. Masakadza and Taylor had come together at the dismissal of Vusi Sibanda with the score on 31, but added 110 to settle the nerves after initial jitters. The century partnership between the two was a story of two halves: the first dominated by Masakadza and the second by Taylor.

In the initial phase, Masakadza looked to score freely while Taylor soaked up the deliveries. He stayed back against the spinners, but was quick to pounce on anything tossed up, preferring to hit over the infield. One such shot took him to his first half-century against Pakistan. Two overs later, he punched a quicker one to the cover boundary to bring up the fifty of the partnership, with Taylor scoring only 7.

In the next half though, Taylor assumed the role of the aggressor, announcing his intentions with aerial boundaries off Saeed Ajmal and Rehman. The run-rate hovered around 2.5, but when the opportunities came, Taylor made sure he was ready. He reverse-swept an Ajmal doosra, then creamed a full delivery from Rahat Ali to the cover boundary. When the partnership reached 100, Taylor had taken over the scoring, with 32 runs in the second fifty.

The free-scoring came after the batsmen had warded off the threat from Pakistan's seamers in the first session when the ball was darting around. Zimbabwe lost their first wicket off the second delivery of the day and only two runs were scored in the first 40 minutes.

The first over, bowled by Junaid, was almost unplayable and accounted for the wicket of Tino Mawoyo as the batsman was squared up by one that cut across him. The umpire was convinced the ball had taken the edge after the Pakistan team went up in a loud appeal. Replays showed that the ball might have hit the thigh pad along the way and not the bat, but Mawoyo, who has had a poor run of scores opening in Tests, had to go.

Rahat started in the same vein from the other end and with plenty of movement on offer, kept the batsmen guessing, as ball after ball, the batsmen played and missed. He bowled a slightly fuller length and a wider line than Junaid, and induced as many errors, but earned the wicket of Sibanda with a short one. He came back to pick another wicket towards the end of the day with the new ball.

 

Zimbabwe v Pakistan, 2nd Test, Harare Taylor wants to sign off series on a high-note

Zimbabwe v Pakistan, 2nd Test, Harare

Taylor wants to sign off series on a high-note

Brendan Taylor hopes that Zimbabwe can put in a better performance against Pakistan in the second Test, mindful of the fact that they potentially won't be in whites again till July next year

Brendan Taylor arrived at the Harare Sports Club at 8:30 this morning and got ready to leave more than four-and-half hours later. Save for about 15 minutes of chit-chat with a journalist, he spent the rest of that time training, first on his own in the nets before a squad practice, and then on his own again.

Grant Flower, Zimbabwe's batting coach, oversaw his individual sessions, conducting the throw-downs with a side-arm, and then his own arm as Taylor concentrated on different aspects of his game.

He spent the last 45 minutes working on left-arm spin. He swept well and then pushed away to the off-side. He asked Flower to pitch it up slightly and he looked flustered as he was occasionally beaten.

"I'm missing some match practice," Taylor said afterwards. "I found a bit of form in the one-dayers but obviously the India series was tough for me. I just want to make sure I'm ready so I've been putting in some extra hours."

Taylor managed just 35 runs in the five ODIs against India, and was out for a duck three times in the series. He slowly found form against Pakistan, and scored an unbeaten 43 and a 79 in the first two ODIs to gain some confidence. But he did not play the first Test and is worried about his longer-format form.

The birth of his son, Mason, forced him out of the game, even though he was "preparing for it like I am going to play." When his fiancee Kelly went into labour in the early morning, a day before the Test, Taylor still thought he would make it. But Mason took 17 hours to arrive and left his father without much rest.

"By the time everything was done it was 2am and I went home, got three hours sleep, and then came back to the hospital. I took the call that I wouldn't play because I was quite drained. I felt I was 24 hours off [from] being ready to play."

Despite not being in the XI, Taylor was in the change room for lengthy periods in the match, and even had a few practice sessions while his team-mates were in the field. "Kelly needed a lot of sleep and the baby was in the incubator. There's only so much time you can spend looking into a glass box so I thought I'd get down here and be around."

What he saw encouraged him as Zimbabwe had the better of Pakistan for three and a half days. "There was definitely some fight and that was so good to see, especially the way the guys batted for long periods." Malcolm Waller, Sikandar Raza and Elton Chigumbura all spent more than two-and-a-half hours at the crease in the first innings and Taylor knows the same, if not more, is expected from him.

He will likely displace Raza from the No.4 spot, despite the promise the Pakistani-born debutant showed, and has decided not to keep wicket in order to be as fresh as possible for playing a key role in the line-up. "Batting at No.4, captaining and keeping is going to be quite mentally taxing," Taylor said.

The mind games are what Taylor is focused on going into this match because he believed that is where Zimbabwe were beaten in the first Test. "Pakistan just switched on and switched off better than us. They were more mentally aware." He hopes his players have learned from that and can show the right temperament in this game. "To play Test cricket you have to be very determined."

Physical fatigue is also a worry, especially in the seam bowling department. Tinashe Panyangara, Tendai Chatara and Shingi Masakadza all bowled in excess of 30 overs each between Thursday and Friday, and if any of them needs to be rested, Brian Vitori will make a comeback, but Taylor hopes they will all be fully fit. "They've made it clear their bodies are good to go. This may be the last Test we play for a while, so I have no doubt they will get up for it."

With Sri Lanka's October tour due to be postponed at Zimbabwe Cricket's request and the next Test series scheduled only for July next year against South Africa, Zimbabwe will have a long wait before wearing whites again. They may also find they don't have much cricket in the coming months. No confirmation has been received on when their domestic season will start, although there are talks it could be in November, and some players are hoping to follow Sean Williams' lead and head to the Dhaka Premier League for a while.

Taylor himself is not sure how much cricket he will fit in over the next few months, especially with a baby to look after. That's why he hopes Zimbabwe can sign off for this season on a high note. "We'll pick ourselves up and try to do our very best for this game. After that, who knows?"