Pakistan v Zimbabwe – Mawoyo thrives on Pakistan’s rookie attack

Day 1 Report – Only Test: Zimbabwe v Pakistan, Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo, 1 - 5 September 2011

Zimbabwe took full advantage of Pakistan’s new-look seam attack as well as some terrible captaincy decisions to put up a decent 1st day score with loss of only four wickets, albeit on a dead wicket.

Quite astonishingly, Misbah-ul-Haq opted to field first on a surface having nothing for the quick men. Pakistan also chose to go with only one specialist spinner. As the proceedings suggested, a second spinner would have been handy. On top of that, Misbah started with Sohail Khan and Aizaz Cheema, who both are better bowlers with the old ball as opposed to Junaid Khan.

Pakistan gave Test caps to Junaid Khan and Ilyas Bin Aizaz Cheema, both heavy performers in domestic circuit. There was no place for Shoaib Malik or Sohail Tanvir. Zimbabwe made only one change from the Eleven that played Bangladesh. Injured Chigumbura made way for debutant all-rounder Greg Lamb.

On a slow flat deck, Pakistan’s pacers lacked discipline as they did not test batsmen’s patience. Sohail was wayward while Cheema bowled too wide or too short. Junaid’s introduction too did not give Pakistan any breakthrough, as Zimbabwe openers Vusi Sibanda and Tino Mawoyo played without much trouble.

Sibanda was the aggressor of the two, extracting some lovely boundaries, especially off the pull and cover drive. Mawoyo’s patience was exemplary, at times boring to death as Lunch approached.

Cheema and sohail were impressive in patches, especially Cheema who tried many tricks but to no avail on a pancake like track. Of the three, junaid looked like taking a wicket here and there but Zimbabwe moved along nicely.

As expected, it was Saeed Ajmal who changed the course by removing Sibanda, who was beaten all ends up by a lovely doosra, to be smartly stumped by Adnan Akmal. He made 45 with the help of nine fours, making it 71 for 1. Lunch came three runs later.

Ajmal continued to trouble batsmen with his clever use of variation. He enticed the batsmen with a flurry of flighted balls, before throwing in a drifter, a quicker one or a doosra. Although ungainly at times, Mawoyo managed to thwart Ajmal. He was given a life, at 27, when Sohail dropped him off Junaid at deep fine leg.

Ajmal got two more in the session to bring Pakistan at par. First Masakadza was castled when he missed the pull, and then Captain Brendan Taylor fell LBW to him cheaply. At 111 for three, Pakistan looked to go deep into the Zimbabwean middle order, but Tatenda Taibu played Ajmal admirably to hold Pakistan back for a long time.

Mawoyo, meanwhile, reached his first Test fifty, off 161 balls. Junaid meanwhile produced some good deliveries and was unlucky to not get Mawoyo LBW. After adding 65 with Mawoyo, Taibu perished tamely when he feathered a rising ball to keeper, giving Sohail Khan his first Test wicket, in his second match.

Craig Ervine and Mawoyo played out the rest of the post-tea session safely to cap off Zimbabwe’s day at 245 for four. Mawoyo was unbeaten on 82.

Zimbabwe will look to pile up a decent score before Pakistan gets chance to bat on a low and slow track. Both teams would try to outscore each other in the first innings, as the ball might turn appreciably during the 4th innings.

Summarised Scores:

Zimbabwe 245/4 (Tino Mawoyo 82*, Sibanda 45; Ajmal 3/75)

Test Debuts: Aizaz Cheema and Junaid Khan for Pakistan and GA Lamb for Zimbabwe

Toss: Pakistan