By Qamar Ahmed in Peshawar
A RECORD fourth-wicket partnership of 118 by Ijaz Ahmed and Yousuf Youhana enabled Pakistan to recover from a shaky start and finish the opening day of the first Test on 272 for six.
Pakistan, who were put in, were 109 for three at lunch having lost captain Aamir Sohail for 15, Saeed Anwar for 36 and Inzamam-ul-Haq for 19.
Their batting line-up was looking suspect but that feeling was soon dispelled as the in-form Ijaz and Yousuf began to take control of the Zimbabwe bowling. The two batted responsibly to steer the innings to the relative safety of 199 for three at tea.
Ijaz, reached his 11th Test fifty with nine fours and was unbeaten on 80 at tea. He and Yousuf had added 107 for the fourth wicket.
Immediately after tea they passed the previous best stand of 116 at Harare in 1994-95 between Inzamam and Ijaz but the partnership ended soon after. Ijaz mis-pulled a delivery from Mpumelelo Mbangwa when at 87 and was caught at mid-on by Andy Whittall.
Yousuf, dropped before he had scored off Heath Streak by Neil Johnson in the slips, stood firm to reach his fourth Test fifty. Moin Khan and Azhar Mahmood fell at the other end but Yousuf remained unbeaten with 74 as bad light cut short play with four overs remaining.
Day 2: Johnson hits maiden Test century
By Rizwan Ali in Peshawar
NEIL JOHNSON struck his maiden century yesterday and so revived Zimbabwe's hopes on the second day of the first Test.
Shoddy Pakistan fielding saw them drop four catches and allowed the visitors to move to 218 for seven in their first innings, in reply to Pakistan's 296, when stumps were drawn for the day, 13 overs ahead of schedule due to fading light.
The most important blow for Pakistan came late in the last session when Johnson was dropped on 99 by Azhar Mahmood at second slip, which denied paceman Wasim Akram his 350th Test wicket and brought up the hundred for Johnson.
Johnson, the 28-year-old left-hander, playing in only his second Test after migrating from South Africa and getting his citizenship just before the first Test against India last month, dominated the seventh-wicket stand of 103 with Heath Streak (22), who was bowled by leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed.
Streak also got a life when Saeed Anwar dropped an easy catch at mid-on with Zimbabwe at 149 for six and Streak on eight.
Johnson was unbeaten on 107 with the help of 16 fours, which featured three successive boundaries off paceman Waqar Younis in one over. He faced 115 balls during his 162 minutes at the wicket.
``I am delighted that I have scored a century against one of the best bowling attacks in the world,'' said Johnson. ``It's a great moment for me and I will never forget it. The wicket is pretty good and although it helps the seamers, the ball comes on to bat nicely.''
Earlier, Grant Flower was twice dropped and once got caught off a no-ball as Zimbabwe crawled to 45 for one at lunch. Flower, who completed 2,000 Test runs when on nine, made 15 before Mahmood finally had him caught in the slips off Waqar.
Earlier, Streak polished off Pakistan's tail, claiming three wickets in the space of 11 deliveries with the second new ball after the home team resumed at the overnight total of 272 for six.
Day 3: Olonga puts Zimbabwe on verge of historic win
By Qamar Ahmed in Peshawar
ZIMBABWE were well poised at the close of play on the third day to win the first Test against Pakistan and with it their first Test in 15 outside their own country.
Pakistan, who had a 58-run first-innings lead, were victims of some devastating bowling by medium-pacers Henry Olonga, Mpumelelo Mbangwa and Heath Streak, who shared nine wickets to bowl Pakistan out for 103 in their second innings, their lowest score in Tests against Zimbabwe.
Set 162 to win, Zimbabwe finished the day on 70 for one with the help of an unbroken 57-run second-wicket stand between Grant Flower (24) and Murray Goodwin (34), and look likely to score the 92 runs required to win when play resumes today.
Resuming at 218 for seven on the third morning, Zimbabwe lost their remaining three wickets with the addition of only 20 runs. The wickets included that of Neil Johnson, who had resumed at 107, his maiden century.
Off the second ball of the day Johnson was caught at second slip by Azhar Mahmood to provide Wasim Akram with his 350th Test wicket. Wasim later also had Olanga leg-before.
Wasim, with five for 52, his 22nd haul of five wickets in Tests, joined Kapil Dev (434), Richard Hadlee (421), Ian Botham (383), Courtney Walsh (379), Malcolm Marshall (376), Imran Khan (362) and Dennis Lillee (355), all of whom have taken more than 350 Test wickets.
The celebration of that landmark was short-lived, however, as Pakistan's inept batting let them down.
In 18 overs before lunch, they were reduced to 44 for six as Olonga picked up three wickets in 10 balls and Mbangwa two in five deliveries.
Aamir Sohail, the captain, was caught and bowled off Olonga, and Ijaz Ahmed was caught off Streak without scoring. Azhar Mahmood mis-hooked Olanga to be caught behind the wicket, Inzamam-ul-Haq played on to Olonga and Moin Khan and Yousuf Youhanna were dismissed by Mbangwa.
Wasim and Saeed Anwar, who each made 31, put on 57 runs for the seventh wicket to gain Pakistan some respectability. Their last four wickets, including Wasim's, fell for five runs in only 22 balls.
Judge Malik Mohammad, who is investigating allegations of match fixing, has asked the Pakistan government for another month to complete his work because players who have been ordered to declare their assets are too busy playing in the Test against Zimbabwe to comply.
The inquiry, set up by the Lahore High Court judge in September, was expected to be wound up on Saturday.
Day 4: Goodwin seals first away win for Zimbabwe
By Qamar Ahmed in Peshawar
ZIMBABWE recorded their first away Test victory yesterday, defeating Pakistan by seven wickets with more than a day and a half to spare in the opening encounter of a three-match series.
It was their second win against Pakistan and only their third in 32 matches since becoming a Test-playing nation in 1992.
In February 1995 they had their first taste of victory, when they beat Pakistan by an innings and 64 runs in Harare, and last October they defeated India by 61 runs in a one-off Test at the same venue.
Zimbabwe captain Alistair Campbell said: ``To win against Pakistan is a big achievement. Australia won a Test here after 39 years and this is only our third tour to this country. It is a memorable win for us.''
Campbell added that winning the toss was the key to victory. ``Coming into the Test, we saw a green wicket and we knew Pakistan batsmen were used to playing on flat wickets, so we thought we had a chance if we played well,'' he said.
Campbell also praised the batting performances of Neil Johnson and Murray Goodwin. ``Johnson's 107 helped us come close to Pakistan's total and his innings was the turning point,'' said Campbell. ``Then Goodwin played solidly to take us to the winning target.''
At the start of the fourth day, Zimbabwe, requiring 162 to win, were 70 for one. It took them an hour and 40 minutes to reach their target, losing in the process the wickets of Grant Flower and Campbell.
Flower, dropped by Azhar Mahmood at second slip off Waqar Younis when on 30, was caught off Wasim Akram after adding one more run - but he had already put on 81 runs for the second wicket with Goodwin.
Later, Wasim had Campbell caught at third slip by Ijaz Ahmed for 12, with Zimbabwe still needing 31 runs to win.
But Goodwin, who made an unbeaten 73 with the help of 13 fours in 185 minutes, steered Zimbabwe to victory without further loss. He struck a couple of delightful cover drives off Waqar and Wasim but it was Andy Flower - having earlier hit Mushtaq Ahmed for six - who scored the winning boundary off Aqib Javed.
Pakistan captain Aamir Sohail was in no doubt about the reasons for his team's disappointing performance. ``Poor selection, lack of application of our batsmen and a seaming wicket have caused this embarrassment,'' he said.
However, Sohail denied that there was dissent in the team against his leadership.