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Zimbabwe open tour with one-day game today

By Our Sports Reporter
18 November 1998



KARACHI, Nov 17: Zimbabwe begin their third tour of Pakistan since getting the Test status in 1992-93 when they face Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA) in a one-day practice match at the National Stadium on Wednesday.

Zimbabwe first came here in 1993-94 under Andy Flower and again under Alister Campbell in 1996-97.

Unfortunately, the results were not very satisfying for them as on both occasions they lost the Test and the one-day series.

Nevertheless, their first Test victory came against Pakistan when they beat Salim Malik's side in Harare in the controversy-marred 1994-95 season.

This time Zimbabwe have arrived with some very encouraging and morale-boosting performances. They defeated India in the one-off Test to notch up only their second Test victory and then knocked-out Sri Lanka from the Sharjah tournament before losing to eventual champions India but not before winning the last league game against them.

The match against a talented but inexperienced Karachi side will help the Zimbabweans acclimatize themselves before taking part in the three-match one-day international series starting at Gujranwala from Nov 20. That game would be followed by matches at Sheikhupura and Rawalpindi on Nov 22 and 24 respectively.

While every match would be equally important to all the Karachi players, it holds great significance to Hasan Raza who made his Test debut against them in 1996-97 and became the youngest Test cricketer.

Besides Raza, skipper Iqbal Imam and Shahid Afridi, who are currently attending the Pakistan camp at Lahore, will be appearing in the match and would be trying to strengthen their positions in the national side.

The 50-over-a-side match would start at 9:30 a.m.

Teams (from):

Karachi: Iqbal Imam (captain), Zafar Jadoon, Shadab Kabir, Suleman Huda, Hasan Raza, Farhan Adil, Shahid Afridi, Ahmad Zeeshan Malik, Arif Mahmood, Ali Raza, Sohail Jaffar, Shiraz Haider, Saad Umar, Asim Kamal, Tahir Khan, Danish Kaneria, Aqeel Ahmad, Nomanullah, Kashif Ibraheem, Aqeel Aziz and Asad Ahmad.

Zimbabwe: Alistair Campbell (captain), Andy Flower, Grant Flower, Craig Wishart, Mark Goodwin, Paul Strang, Heath Streak, Neil Johnson, Henry Olonga, Andy Whittal, Eddo Brandes, Adam Huckle, Mpuelelo Mbangwa, Craig Evans, Gavin Rennie.

Umpires: Riazuddin and Salim Badar


Source: Dawn
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