adminPaul Munyuki Sports Reporter
IT’S delicately balanced going into the final day of the second Test at Harare Sports Club but Zimbabwe , if they can keep their cool, can fancy their chances of a memorable win against Pakistan. Zimbabwe were bowled out for just 199 with Rahat Ali doing most of the dame with his five-wicket haul, taking three wickets yesterday, including Vusi Sibanda and captain Brendan Taylor.
But chasing more than 250 runs was always going to be difficult, on a wearing pitch, and Zimbabwe struck some key blows to remove the top five batsmen and if they can break the overnight duo of Misbuh-al-Huq and Adnan Akmal then they have a good chance.
Having recovered from a stomach ailment that had kept him out of opening on Wednesday, Sibanda was the first to go with the lead at 200.
Malcolm Waller and Elton Chigumbura followed in quick succession without troubling the scorers and the game was on the edge.
Pakistan started aggressively but Tendai Chatara, bowling impressively, took the first two wickets and the Zimbabweans fought hard to push themselves back into the game.
It’s a tough call to make, as to which team will win, but one of the teams will certainly emerge as the winner today.
What a match in store for the fans on the final day and those who were saying that Zimbabwe can’t play Test cricket should be looking away in shame right now.
Zimbabwe 2nd innings
Mawoyo lbw b Abdur Rehman 58
Utseya c Asad Shafiq b Rahat Ali 5
Masakadza lbw b Rahat Ali 44
Panyangara c Azhar Ali b Abdur Rehman 0
Taylor* c Azhar Ali b Rahat Ali 27
Sibanda c †Adnan Akmal b Rahat Ali 10
Waller c Khurram Manzoor b Saeed Ajmal 3
Chigumbura c †Adnan Akmal b Junaid Khan 3
Mutumbami† c Abdur Rehman b Saeed Ajmal 29
Chatara c †Adnan Akmal b Rahat Ali 1
Vitori not out 0
Extras (b 3, lb 11, w 5) 19
Total (all out; 89.5 overs; 370 mins) 199
F-o-W: 1-13, 2-117, 3-121, 4-121, 5-136, 6-149, 7-156, 8-177, 9-199, 10-199.
Bowling
Junaid Khan 19-6-37-1
Rahat Ali 24.5-5-52-5
Saeed Ajmal 22-7-56-2
Abdur Rehman 24-5-40-2.
Pakistan 2nd innings (target: 264)
Manzoor c Waller b Utseya 54
Hafeez c Vitori b Chatara 16
Azhar Ali b Chatara 0
Younis Khan b Vitori 29
Misbah-ul-Haq* not out 26
Asad Shafiq c Mutumbami b Utseya 14
Adna Akmal not out 17
Extras (1w, 1nb) 2
Total 158
To bat: Abdur Rehman, Saeed Ajmal, Junaid Khan, Rahat Ali
F-o-W: 1-30, 2-46, 3-90, 4-100, 5-133
Bowling: Panyangara 10-2-32-0
Vitori 12-2-55-1
Chatara 13-2-29-2
Utseya 13-2-40-2
Masakadza 1-0-2-0.
Online Reporter