Tatenda Taibu stands tall

Test cricket match against Zimbabwe at Queens Sports Club yesterday.
Zimbabwe were 135/8 at stumps in their second innings with number five Tatenda Taibu and number 10 batsman Kyle Jarvis having teamed-up with the score on 69/7.
With the wicket expected to deteriorate, Zimbabwe possibly spent last night dreaming of posting a defendable total against a Pakistan side known for monumental collapses.
The hosts were probably being reminded of a Sydney Test in which Australia slumped to 80/8 but managed to set Pakistan 170 on the final day. The Aussies won the match.
Expecting Zimbabwe to extend their lead around 150 will be asking too much of Taibu, Jarvis and last man Christopher Mpofu.
Zimbabwe, who conceded a first innings deficit of 54 runs, were in all sorts of trouble when reduced to 45/5 and later 69/7.
Jarvis joined Taibu with Zimbabwe’s lead just 15 runs but the seamer defied the odds and turned out to be the second highest scorer for the hosts.
The third best contribution came from opener Tino Mawoyo who made 12 as the Zimbabwe top-order crumbled under pressure from a confident Pakistan attack.
Poor fielding cost Zimbabwe dearly and Pakistan’s first innings total of 466 was aided by dropped catches.
Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor, who was among those who fumbled catches, believes Pakistan would not have gone beyond 300 had they been clinical.
He blamed it on lack of concentration.
For instance, opener Mohammad Hafeez made 119 after being dropped by Taylor while still on 11.
Now Zimbabwe are facing defeat in a game they could easily have won.
There was even room for a draw had the top-order batted responsibly in Zimbabwe’s second innings but they barely stayed in the middle.
Disaster struck after 3,2 overs when Vusi Sibanda showed signs of not learning from his mistakes as he went out to the same shot that has cost him most of his wickets.
The pull shot has produced most of his runs but it is also his fatal shot.
He had made just five runs and four of them had come off a lovely drive.
Critics actually believe Sibanda is an ‘obsessive compulsive puller of a ball inches short of a length.’
On this occasion the only time he would have been forced to play the shot would have been the last ball of the match with Zimbabwe needing two runs to win.
As Sibanda presented mid-on with a simple catch, statistics showed that it was the FIFTH time in the last month that he has fallen to the pull shot in matches against Bangladesh and Pakistan – all five being catches in front of square.
It was the breakthrough Pakistan wanted and they removed Mawoyo six overs later as Saeed Ajmal’s ball turned sharply to clip the opener’s leg stump.
Mawoyo had made 12 off 30 balls and Zimbabwe were now 19/2.
Taylor found the going tough again and failed to stay in the middle, falling while attempting to sweep Ajmal. The turn beat his bat and hit him in front of off and there was no denying a leg before wicket decision.
The skipper fell for five runs to leave Zimbabwe on 31/3.
It was as if Zimbabwe batsmen were under instructions to go out second ball of the over as Hamilton Masakadza followed after 13,2 overs.
Masakadza was a victim of indecision, as he seemed to have decided against defending but ended up dragging it on as he was withdrawing his bat. It became 31/4.
After 17,2 overs things got worse for Zimbabwe as Craig Ervine was given out lbw to a slider from Hafeez to leave the score on 45/5.
Greg Lamb followed six overs later as he padded Hafeez’s off-break and at 61/6, the lead was just seven runs.
Raymond Price (0) was wicket number seven in the 26th over and when Brian Vitori (seven) was out sweeping Hafeez, it was just a matter of time before the match ended.
Some fans were even looking forward to watching the second half of the Zimbabwe v Liberia soccer match which was being shown on television.
At 69/8, Zimbabwe were effectively 15 for 8 given the 54-run deficit from the first innings.
At least Taibu and Jarvis saved the day and Taylor believes Zimbabwe will be in with a chance if they can bat through the morning session.
Anything around 150 will make it interesting.
After all, anything is possible whenever Pakistan are in action.

Scoreboard
Zimbabwe first innings
412 all out: (T. Mawoyo 163 n.o., A. Cheema 4-79, S. Ajmal 4-143)
Pakistan first innings (overnight 357-5)
M. Hafeez c Lamb b Masakadza 119
T. Umar lbw b Jarvis 4
A. Ali c Taibu b Lamb 75
Y. Khan c Taylor b Price 88
M. Ul Haq c Vitori b Lamb 66
U. Akmal c Taylor b Lamb 15
A. Akmal run out (Mawoyo) 36
S. Ajmal b Price 28
S. Khan c Ervine b Mpofu 11
J. Khan c Ervine b Mpofu 6
A. Cheema not out 0
Extras (4b, 14lb) 18
Total (all out, 156.1 overs) 466
Fall of wickets: 1-8 (Umar), 2-196 (Hafeez), 3-218 (Ali), 4-318 (ul Haq), 5-357 (U. Akmal), 6-415 (A. Akmal), 7-424 (Y. Khan). 8-455 (S. Khan), 9-466 (J. Khan), 10-466 (S. Ajmal)
Bowling: Jarvis 24-4-79-1; Vitori 25-3-103-0; Mpofu 22-5-64-2; Price 50.1-24-69-2; Lamb 28-2-120-3; Masakadza 7-1-13-1
Zimbabwe second innings
T. Mawoyo b S. Ajmal 12
V. Sibanda c S. Ajmal b Cheema 5
H. Masakadza b Cheema 8
B. Taylor lbw b S. Ajmal 5
T. Taibu not out 58
C. Ervine lbw b Hafeez 6
G. Lamb lbw b Hafeez 7
R. Price b Hafeez 0
B. Vitori c Umar b Hafeez 7
K. Jarvis not out 20
Extras (4b, 2w, 1nb) 7
Total (8 wkts, 54 overs) 135
Fall of wickets: 1-9 (Sibanda), 2-19 (Mawoyo), 3-31 (Taylor), 4-31 (Masakadza), 5-45 (Ervine), 6-61 (Lamb), 7-61 (Price), 8-69 (Vitori).
To bat: Chris Mpofu
Bowling: S. Khan 6-1-19-0 (1nb); A. Cheema 10-4-24-2 (2w) : S. Ajmal 22-4-52-2; M. Hafeez 15-4-31-4, J. Khan 1-0-4-0
Toss: Pakistan
Umpires: Ian Gould (ENG) and Rodney Tucker (AUS)
TV umpire: Jeremiah Matibiri (ZIM)
Match referee: David Boon (AUS) – AFP.