Pakistan made rather a pig’s ear of the first day’s play of the First Testmatch against Zimbabwe at Harare Sports Club

John Ward09-Nov-2002Pakistan made rather a pig’s ear of the first day’s play of the First Testmatch against Zimbabwe at Harare Sports Club. Put in to bat on a pitch thatdid not help the seamers as much as expected, they were confronted with somerather mediocre Zimbabwe bowling. They responded with mediocre batting,losing unnecessary wickets and finally allowing themselves to be frustratedout in the final session when Guy Whittall put a brake on the scoring.Pakistan were all out in the final over for 285.A warm, sunny morning in Harare suggested that the recent rain has departedfor the present and no delays or hold-ups in play were imminent. The pitchwas still damp underneath, though, and former Zimbabwe captain Dave Houghtonthought the ball would seam around for the first day and a half, beforesettling into a fine batting strip. The crowd numbered several thousand,mostly schoolchildren bussed in from the townships, who as usual provided avibrant atmosphere.A word must be said about the media reports concerning the supposedlyelaborate security precautions taken at Harare Sports Club. They impliedthat these reflected an insecure situation in the country, which is quiteincorrect. They were only in operation before the Test as a `dry run’ forthe World Cup, when international regulations require much tighter securitythan is or has ever been necessary in Zimbabwe, and were not in evidence atall on the match morning.Alistair Campbell won the toss for Zimbabwe and, no doubt sharing Houghton’sview of the pitch, put Pakistan in to bat. Test debutants were all-rounderBlessing Mahwire for Zimbabwe and wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal for Pakistan,replacing Rashid Latif who was unfit.There was a little seam movement in the pitch but it was not excessive, andZimbabwe’s bowlers did not use it very effectively to start with: AndyBlignaut was erratic while Henry Olonga pitched too short. But whenBlignaut did get a ball on line to straighten, Saleem Elahi (2) played acramped stroke and was held low at second slip by Alistair Campbell;Pakistan 7 for one.Taufeeq Umar and Younis Khan batted positively, but had to work hard fortheir runs as the outfield was very slow. Zimbabwe nearly took anotherearly wicket as Taufeeq, then on 10, narrowly beat a fine throw by Olongafrom the long-leg boundary as he looked for a second run. While Younissettled down, the left-handed Taufeeq grew increasingly aggressive, pullingpowerfully and driving the overpitched balls.Raymond Price came on to bowl after the drinks interval, and was immediatelyhoisted for six over long-on by Taufeeq, who thus reached his fifty off 54balls. Despite being almost on course for a century before lunch, he thenwent into his shell and only added another 14 runs in almost an hour untilthe lunch interval.Soon after the break Zimbabwe believed they had Younis Khan, on 40, caughtoff Whittall at second slip off inside edge and body, but umpire Venkatruled, probably correctly, that there was no contact with the bat. Younisdid not score another run, though, before he cut Blignaut hard and low, butstraight to Ebrahim in the gully. Pakistan were 122 for two, after apartnership of 115.Inzamam-ul-Haq got off the mark with a three, and then next ball Taufeeq(75) edged a sharp catch to Andy Flower at first slip and Pakistan weresuddenly 125 for three. Inzamam and Yousuf Youhana consolidated for abouthalf an hour before they began to accelerate steadily. Inzamam was nottiming the ball perfectly and Youhana, belying his lack of match practice,overtook him in the thirties.Again Zimbabwe’s bowlers had failed to maintain the pressure and allowed thebatsmen too many scoring opportunities; the 200 came up in the 53rd over.Then on 39, on the stroke of tea, Inzamam tried to pull Olonga but was toolate on his shot, skying an easy catch over the bowler’s head for twelfthman Mark Vermeulen to take. This was perhaps the turning point of the day.Zimbabwe bowled with more accuracy after tea, with Whittall, who was notsupposed to put too much strain on his injured leg by bowling too much,sending down 21 overs for 44 runs with a line generally outside off stump.Youhana, bogged down for an hour, finally lost patience, tried to swingPrice over midwicket, misread the arm ball and was trapped lbw for 63;Pakistan 246 for five.Price’s arm ball also accounted for Kamran Akmal, who failed to score in hisfirst Test innings; shouldering arms, he found the ball coming back in tohit his off stump. Then the deserving Whittall finally picked up a wicketas Saqlain Mushtaq (2) snicked a catch to first slip Andy Flower; Pakistan262 for seven.Zimbabwe took the second new ball immediately, although after three quickwickets there was a case for waiting. However, a yorker from Blignauttrapped Waqar Younis (2) lbw as he played across the line, and shortlyafterwards Shoaib Akhtar (1) was caught at third slip by Grant Flower. Thecatch was taken so low that the umpire was uncertain but, in a rare returnto old-fashioned sportsmanship, the batsman asked the fielder and walked onreceiving confirmation. Blignaut, bowling better now, had taken fivewickets in an innings for the third time in his brief Test career on hisreturn to that level of the game.With last man Mohammad Sami at the crease Hasan Raza, who had been unable todominate, now began to take some risks. In the final over of the day, with46 to his name, he snicked Olonga to Campbell at second slip; again theumpires could not see but Raza, less sporting than Shoaib, stood his groundand waited until the third umpire confirmed it.Perhaps the best department of the game during the day was the fine Zimbabwefielding and catching, with Whittall’s bowling, undervalued in the book, thegreatest influence on the scoreline. Despite some mediocre batting andbowling, it was a fascinating day’s cricket.