adminmade an unbeaten 163 in Zimbabwe’s respectable first innings total of 412 but his historic knock was somewhat diminished by Pakistan’s rapid response – 116/1 in just 29 overs. They are still 296 runs behind with nine wickets in hand.
Even more disappointing was that Mohammad Hafeez, who is unbeaten on 79 from 93 balls, was dropped early on and Pakistan could have been reduced to 16/2. Brian Vitori had managed to get a delivery that left the batsman and the edge got to captain Brendan Taylor at second slip but the skipper could not hold on to what had looked a simple catch.
Hafeez took advantage of the reprieve and smashed 15 fours and a six as he seeks to emulate Mawoyo who made his historic score after being dropped while on 27. But three quarters of the day had belonged to Mawoyo who faced the first ball of the innings on Thursday.
Mawoyo became only the THIRD Zimbabwe opening batsman to carry his bat in a Test match after Mark Dekker and Grant Flower.
All three accomplished the feat against Pakistan and Mawoyo has the highest score. Flower made 156 of Zimbabwe’s 321 at Queens Sports Club in March of 1998 while Dekker scored 68 not out as
Zimbabwe made 254 all out in 74 overs at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium in December 1993.
Mawoyo faced 453 balls in his innings, which is the fourth-highest by a Zimbabwe batsman in Tests after David Houghton (541balls for his 266 against Sri Lanka), Grant Flower (523 balls for his 201* against Pakistan) and Andy Flower (470 for his 199 against South Africa).
It took Mawoyo 14 balls to move from 99 to 100 – it took him 21 balls to move from 98 to three figures.
Before the match, Mawoyo had revealed that a new program in the gym has helped him lose 16 kilograms which probably explains how he managed to carry his bat on sunny conditions.
“Moving in the field is a lot easier. I don’t feel as tired anymore and from the training routine that I’ve got now, I feel if I go for two or three days without a run, something is wrong,” he said in an interview with CricInfo.
Online Reporter