By Samiul Hasan
Pakistan 272 for six
PESHAWAR, Nov 27: Ijaz Ahmad made the critics, who had ruled him out, eat their words again when he slammed an impressive 87 as Pakistan reached a respectable 272 for six at stumps on the opening day of the first cricket Test against Zimbabwe on Friday.
Ijaz's thundering and punishing innings included 13 blistering boundaries and a six. But a mistimed pull off Mbangwa, after tea, denied him his third successive century when it went into the hands of Andrew Whittall at mid-on.
When an early closure was applied four overs before scheduled close because of fading light, Yousuf Youhana was batting on a patient but elegant career-best 74. With him was Wasim Akram who had faced just two balls.
It was at this ground 12 months ago in the first Test against the West Indies when a sitting selection committee member (Shafiq Ahmad) had told Ijaz Ahmad that it was his last Test. But Ijaz belted a rapid 65 as Pakistan beat West Indies by an innings and 19 runs.
For the first Test against Australia at Rawalpindi last month, Ijaz was dropped because the selectors thought he was out of form. But a defeat in the series opener prompted the selectors take a U-turn and Ijaz wasted no opportunity to prove them that they were wrong in dropping him by scoring 155 here in a high scoring draw. In the following Test at Karachi, Ijaz scored five and 120 not out.
By virtue of this innings, Ijaz has taken his tally of runs this season to 367 at an average of 91.75 with two centuries and a half century. In the last 18 innings, Ijaz has aggregated 749 at 46.81.
His last five innings are significant in the background that he was under tremendous mental pressure and tension following betting and match-fixing probe by a government appointed Judicial Commission.
The 31-year-old batsman, nevertheless, displayed steel nerves and mental toughness at a time when his other team-mates succumbed to the pressures and continued to blitz with the blade.
His today's knock was yet another example of his natural timing, selection of strokes, hitting between the gaps and guts to go for his shots. He showed great wrist command by stroking boundaries to both the sides of the wickets. His drives were as scorching and entertaining as his pulls and cuts.
Ijaz was specially severe on off-spinner Andrew Whittall when on three successive balls of his one over, he struck two boundaries and a six. Neil Johnson was also whipped by Ijaz as his 18 overs costed him 78 runs.
Ijaz remained unawed by the fact that Pakistan had their backs against the walls after Alistair Campbell's decision to field on a green and hard surface had paid off when Saeed Anwar (36), Aamir Sohail (15) and Inzamam-ul-Haq (19) perished before lunch with the scoreboard reading 92.
Together with Pakistan's young gun and future asset, Yousuf Youhana, Ijaz added 118 runs for the fourth wicket which was a new fourth wicket recorded against Zimbabwe.
Yousuf Youhana showed maturity and professionalism to play exquisite cuts, cover drives and text book straight drives on way to his fourth Test half century and third in five innings against Zimbabwe.
Following the adage that fortunes favour the brave, Youhana capitalized from a dropped chance at one a stroke before lunch to prosper as the proceedings progressed.
The cool and calculated Youhana has so far faced 153 balls out of which 13 have been converted into boundaries which any batsman of the highest class would feel proud of. Youhana reached the pinnacle of his innings when he smashed three boundaries in four balls of an over from Henry Olonga. Interestingly, all three boundaries were struck on the off-side but to different parts of the field.
Mpumelelo Mbangwa was the pick of Zimbabwe bowlers when he captured three wickets for 40 runs from 23 overs. But it was Heath Streak who overshadowed Mbangwa when he became the first Zimbabwean to capture 100 wickets in Test cricket.
Streak achieved the milestone in his 25th Test when he accounted for Azhar Mahmood (11) caught behind the wickets by Andy Flower.
Earlier in the morning, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Saeed Anwar and Ijaz Ahmad passed fitness test to be included in the side. But there was no place for Saqlain Mushtaq, Hasan Raza and Salim Elahi as Pakistan opted for the three-pace attack spearheaded by Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Aqib Javed. Aqib Javed was picked after three years in wilderness.
Zimbabwe surprised everyone when they left out Paul Strang who had a match double at Sheikhupura when they came here in 1996-97.
But Pakistan top order batsmen failed to adjust themselves on a lively pitch to create a brief panic in the camp.
Aamir Sohail departed on the first ball of the 14th over when Mbangwa had him caught behind on his first ball of the match. Saeed Anwar departed shortly when he paid the price of playing across the line an his off-stump sent cart-wheeling by Neil Johnson.
Inzamam-ul-Haq, who has been dismissed in the nervous 90s in each of the three innings he has played here, was adjudged leg before off Mbangwa by Athar Zaidi. Inzamam showed displeasure over the decision by slowly walking back to the dressing room. He was fortunate not to have been called by match referee Cammie Smith after he had shown his bat to the umpire indicating that he had got an inside edge.
After Ijaz Ahmad became the fourth Pakistan batsmen to be out, Moin Khan lasted for 26 balls before being caught at long-leg while hooking Henry Olonga. Azhar Mahmood was the last Pakistan wicket to fall.
Day 2: Johnson hits maiden century as Pakistan rue missed chances
By Samiul Hasan
PESHAWAR, Nov 28: Neil Johnson stroked a face-saving maiden century which rescued Zimbabwe from disaster and left Pakistan rueing missed chances which may prove crucial in the outcome of first cricket Test of the three-match series.
Johnson, born in Harare but who learnt and played cricket in South Africa for Natal, slammed a belligerent unbeaten 107 which helped Zimbabwe recover from a pit's edge and reach 218 for seven when the stumps for the second day's play were drawn with 13 overs still to be bowled.
Pakistan, bundled out for 296 after resuming on Saturday morning at 272 for six inside 40 minutes play, had the tourists tottering at 115 for six with the deadly combination of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis equally sharing six wickets between them.
But sloppy fielding, lose captaincy and gutsy Johnson denied Pakistan's hopes of batting again on the same day.
Pakistan fielders showed butter fingers when they dropped no less than four catches, including Johnson's when the left-hander was on 99.
Moin Khan failed to hold onto a sharp catch of Grant Flower off Waqar Younis and then Ijaz Ahmad dropped a sitter of the same batsman off Wasim Akram at gully. To rub salt into the wound, Grant Flower was caught by Azhar Mahmood off Akram but the ICC umpire George Sharp called it a no-ball.
Saeed Anwar, later in the afternoon, failed to grasp Heath Streak's lofted shot at mid-on off Waqar Younis to let the batsman score 24 from eight.
Johnson's dropped catch by Azhar Mahmood off Wasim Akram was the final nail in Pakistan's coffin. One wonders what Pakistan coach Javed Miandad has been doing in an effort to improve the fielding though he claims it has improved quite a lot.
``Bad luck to Pakistan and good luck to me. Its part of the game. I had dropped Yousuf Youhana when he was one,'' Johnson told reporters after the close of play.
Barring that opportunity, Johnson, 28, played a polished and superb knock which produced 16 thundering boundaries from his willow off 115 balls.
It was Johnson's first century in only his second Test but he never looked that he was a hush-puppy in international cricket. ``I took inspiration from Ijaz Ahmad. He hammered the bad balls hard and tried to copy him,'' Johnson said.
``I am feeling out of this world because I never thought to get an opportunity to play Test cricket. I had wanted to play for South Africa but I never got a chance until Zimbabwe offered me. I got my Zimbabwean nationality in September,'' Johnson added.
Johnson deserves a pat on the back because the circumstances in which he came out to bat were really very difficult with Zimbabwe on 106 for five and Waqar Younis on a hat-trick.
``It was frightening,'' he admitted, adding: ``With Waqar Younis running in and crowd shouting behind him, my legs were trembling. But it's fascinating to be on the same field with Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram who are great bowlers.''
Younis, playing his first Test in more than eight months, found his right rhythm only in his second spell of six overs in which he turned out to be almost unplayable. He captured three wickets in four balls to set up a dismissal of Zimbabwean innings.
Younis had Grant Flower caught in the third slip by Azhar Mahmood, then trapped Murray Goodwin in front of the wickets and on the following ball which was undoubtedly the ball of match clean bowled Andy Flower with a banana-like yorker.
He finished the day with three for 62 from 17 overs.
Wasim Akram had provided Pakistan with an early start when in his second over he accounted for Gavin Rennie. He later added the scalps of Alistair Campbell and Craig Wishart to finish with three for 49 which took his tally of wickets to 349 in 82 Tests.
Besides some pathetic fielding, Aamir Sohail once again displayed how raw he was when he brought in his champion wrist spinner Mushtaq Ahmad in the 52nd over with the Zimbabwe scoreboard reading 172 for six. Before that, he persisted with either Azhar Mahmood or Aqib Javed who left little impression on the tourists.
Mushtaq complimented Sohail by providing him the wicket of Heath Streak (24) who had added 103 runs for the seventh wicket with Johnson in 104 minutes.
Heath Streak, earlier in the morning, claimed three wickets in 11 balls to evaporate Pakistan hopes of adding something like 75 more runs to their overnight score of 272 for six.
The 24-year-old Streak finished with four for 93.
Yousuf Youhana, who started at 74, lasted for 11 balls and could add only one run while Wasim Akram could score 10. Mushtaq Ahmad got a first-ball duck and Waqar Younis scored only six.
With Zimbabwe being 218 for seven in reply to Pakistan's 296, the match seems to be dead even. It is now to be seen how the Pakistani batsmen play on a wicket which has eased out as expected but still has something for the bowlers who pitch the ball upto the batsmen like Wasim and Waqar did.
Day 3: Zimbabwe need 92 for maiden Test win on foreign soil
By Samiul Hasan
Pakistan dismissed for 103
PESHAWAR, Nov 29: Hitting the rock-bottom of their performance in this year's home series against Australia and Zimbabwe, Pakistan on Sunday were bundled out for 103 by Zimbabwe who seized control of the first cricket Test after third day's play.
Pakistan, beaten 1-0 by Australia in the just-concluded series, put up a highly disappointing batting display to be dismissed in 36.5 overs in 177 minutes after having secured a 58-run first innings lead.
When the stumps were drawn for the day 12 overs before scheduled closure, because of bad light, Zimbabwe had narrowed the victory target of 162 to just 92 when they reached 70 for the loss of Gavin Rennie's wicket.
Murray Goodwin looked in prime form when he had struck six beautifully executed boundaries, four off Waqar Younis, to reach 34 by stumps. With him was Grant Flower on a solid 24 studded with five boundaries.
Wasim Akram, who looked dangerous, was surprisingly taken off the attack by skipper Aamir Sohail after his seven-over burst had cost him just five runs besides the wicket of Gavin Rennie. Akram's body language showed that he was very upset with the decision as he walked off the field only to return after three overs.
Barring Akram, Waqar Younis and Aqib Javed looked pale shadows of themselves though they beat the batsmen on a number of times. But the punch and killing instinct were missing probably because Younis was playing his first Test after eight months and Javed had got a chance after almost three years.
Zimbabwe are chasing their first victory on overseas tour. Zimbabwe have won two Tests in 31 matches before this one since getting into the ICC fold in 1992. But both have come on home ground - over Pakistan in 1994-94 at Harare and against India at Harare last month.
Earlier in the day, Wasim Akram became only the eighth bowler in the world to capture 350 wickets when on the second ball of the play he accounted for Neil Johnson (107). He went on to add the wicket of Mpumelelo Mbangwa as Zimbabwe's first innings folded for 238 in 37 minutes of batting. The visitors had resumed this morning at 218 for seven.
Akram finished with five wickets for 52 runs. It was the 22nd time he had taken five wickets or more in an innings but first after 11 Tests.
By virtue of the five wickets in the first innings and one in the second, Akram has raised his tally of wickets to 352 and is just four shy of overhauling Dennis Lillee's 355 to become world's seventh leading bowler. Kapil Dev leads the list with 434 wickets followed by Sir Richard Hadlee (431), Ian Botham (383), Courtney Walsh (379), Malcolm Marshal (376), Imran Khan (362) and Dennis Lillee (355).
But Akram's superlative effort under the cloud of match-fixing and betting allegations went down the drain when Pakistani batsmen batted mindlessly and recklessly to be dismissed for 103 on a wicket which continued to assist the seamers as was evident from the fact that out of the 31 wickets fallen, 29 have gone into the kitty of the seamers.
The so-called inexperienced Zimbabwe bowlers gave no clue to Pakistan's 'world-class' batsmen who have often disappointed when expected to perform well. The pacers, Henry Olonga and Mpumelelo Mbangwa, two of the three blacks ever to play for Zimbabwe, bowled with fire and fury without hurting the accuracy to virtually break Pakistan's back by picking up wickets very early in their spells.
Olonga started the collapse when he caught Aamir Sohail off his own bowling, then picked up Azhar Mahmood who was caught hooking and dismissed Inzamam-ul-Haq by clean bowling him after cutting the big-man into half off a ball that came into him sharply. This all happened in a space of 10 balls.
Heath Streak, from the other end, had Ijaz Ahmad caught fishing outside the off-stump as Pakistan slumped to 14 for four.
Pakistan never recovered from the Olonga destruction as Mpumelelo Mbangwa uprooted the stumps of Yousuf Youhana and Moin Khan in a space of five balls after the duo had carried the score to 34.
Saeed Anwar, batting down the order because of high temperature and vomiting, and Wasim Akram, however, saved Pakistan from being dismissed for the lowest-ever score of 62 by adding 57 runs for the seventh wicket in 87 minutes. But after the two were separated with the dismissal of Akram at 98, Pakistan's innings terminated 16 balls later their lowest score against Zimbabwe.
Pakistan's last four wickets fell for just five runs between 22 balls.
Anwar and Akram scored 31 each. Anwar's 76-ball innings was studded with four boundaries while Akram struck five fours in his 55-ball innings.
Anwar became Olonga's fourth wictim who finished with outstanding figures of four for 42 and match-figures of six for 89. Akram went down to Mbangwa who snapped up his career-best analysis of three for 23.
Heath Streak added the scalp of Aqib Javed to Ijaz Ahmad's to end up with two for 19 for match-figures of six for 112.
Pakistan's batting display on Sunday revived memories of two particular matches when they were dismissed for 62 against Australia at Perth and 77 against the West Indies at Lahore. Their inability to bat on seaming tracks against intelligent bowling was exposed again. Radical changes are required in the team. Azhar Mahmood, a constant liability, needs to be shown the way out along with Inzamam-ul-Haq who is neither fit nor has been scoring. Similarly, it is time that the authorities admit that their decision of appointing Aamir Sohail as captain was wrong as his field placing, bowling changes are as atrocious as his batting form.
Sohail has kept no secrets that he doesn't have any say in the selection committee, doesn't know which player is fit and is also unaware of what type of wickets sould be prepared for future games. If the captain can't be made a party to all these crucial decisions, its better to release him also in the background that he is not a very popular man in the side and gets little support from his senior players.
Barring the glorious uncertainties of this spectacular game, Zimbabwe are set to end their 15-match defeat drought on foreign soil and in the meantime pile on the agony on Pakistan team.
Day 4: Zimbabwe register maiden 7-wicket win
By Samiul Hasan
PESHAWAR, Nov 30: Pakistan touched their lowest ebb on Monday when Zimbabwe nailed them by seven wickets to win their maiden Test abroad with more than five sessions to spare in the first cricket Test at the Arbab Niaz Stadium.
Murray Goodwin, who has a phenomenal record of a century and six half centuries in seven Tests before this one, dashed Pakistan's hopes of an unlikely victory on the fourth day when he powered his way to a magnificent unbeaten 73.
Zimbabwe resumed this morning at 70 for one chasing 162 for victory. They wrapped up the proceedings in just 101 minutes when former captain Andy Flower handsomely drove Aqib Javed to cover boundary to give Zimbabwe a historic win.
Flower remained unbeaten on 17 with a six and two boundaries as Zimbabwe scored almost run-a-minute on a wicket which didn't lost bounce and assistance for the seamers.
Wasim Akram, nevertheless, stood tall amidst Pakistan's humiliation when he once again showed his wits and hunger for more success by picking up two more wickets to his last evening's scalp of Gavin Rennie.
He finished with three wickets for 47 runs for match figures of eight for 99. He is now two short of becoming seventh all-time great by taking his tally of wickets to 354. He needs one more wicket to share the place with Dennis Lillee.
However, Akram's brilliance was not enough to break the resistance, determination and application of Murray Goodwin. The stylish batsman slammed 13 exquisite and beautiful boundaries in his 124-ball innings.
He had reached his seventh half century in Tests from 82 balls with eight boundaries.
Together with Grant Flower (31), Goodwin added 81 runs for the second wicket to provide Zimbabwe the launching pad for their first success abroad in 16 attempts. They now have three wins in 32 Tests, including two against Pakistan and one against India.
A rush of blood on Flower's account brought his demise when he was caught by Moin Khan after facing 101-balls out of which five were converted into boundaries. Akram then bowled a nasty bouncer to Alistair Campbell and the best the Zimbabwean captain could do was to save himself from being hurt seriously by getting a glove and Ijaz Ahmad holding easiest of catches.
It was a thoroughly professional performance by Zimbabwe who virtually pushed Pakistan back to the drawing board to reconsider their options, strategies and team selection.
Zimbabweans, who have learnt most of their cricket from the Pakistanis, have now conquered their masters on their ground. It clearly reflects how rapidly they have improved and how alarmingly Pakistan have slumped from the zenith of glories to depths of despair.
The Pakistan batsmen, who share more than 225 Tests between them, were reduced to nothing less than new entrants - at least the way they batted raised doubts whether they really deserved to play Test cricket.
The bowlers, barring Wasim Akram, had no punch and Waqar Younis showed that he lacked match fitness. Except for one spell in which he took three wickets in four balls, he was nothing but a pale shadow of himself. Aqib Javed, who came into the Test vowing to justify his selection, went wicketless and was struck all over the park. Mushtaq Ahmad was unfortunate not to have been allowed enough bowling by Aamir Sohail who himself looked bewildered with surprising field placing and hopeless bowling changes.
Zimbabwe's convincing performance has left Pakistan with no excuse to offer. They fielded their best players and prepared wicket for which they have been crying for years.
The most mindboggling question, however, remains how the same set of players performed previously under Wasim Akram and coaches like Mushtaq Mohammad, Nasimul Ghani and even Haroon Rasheed.
But this season, which is just three months old, Pakistan have lost two Tests out of four and have suffered defeats in six out of 12 one-day internationals.
Naturally, this is not the ideal preparation for next year's World Cup the likely tour of India for three Tests and five one-day internationals.
Unless the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) sits down to sort out their own problems and the communication gap between the players specially between Aamir Sohail and rest of the players, things are bound to get from bad to worse.
It's time that radical changes are made in the team and half of the side is shown the exit door before the team falls down the world ranking ladder and a situation comes where Pakistan suffers the same anomaly as Zimbabweans who get no cricket playing opportunity in South Africa, Australia, West Indies, England etc.