adminPaul Munyuki Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE will be hoping to do more than just making an impression when they take on Pakistan in the second and final Test cricket match starting today at Harare Sports Club and the return of captain Brendan Taylor and all-rounder Sean Williams could be key. The duo were absent last week for the first Test which Zimbabwe lost by 221 runs with Taylor was on leave to celebrate the birth of his new son while Williams asked to be excused from the match until his contractual dues were honoured.
Zimbabwe dominated the first Test for three-and-half days but lost a crucial final session on the fourth day and they just could not recover.
In the end it was just the fine margins with Pakistan riding on Younis Khan’s double ton, which was a game changer, buy analysts saw that he was lucky in his tentative start with a couple of inside edges and two big lives that were offered by the fielders.
Had those chances been taken it could have been a different tale.
Zimbabwe will have to find a way to deal with Saeed Ajmal, who took 11 wickets and appears to now have a mental advantage over the batsmen.
Ajmal and Abdur Rehman took 15 of the 20 Zimbabwe wickets to fall in the first Test.
Despite missing the services of Williams and Taylor, the Zimbabweans were considerably stronger than most expected in the series opener with the host seam attack proving dominant and giving away very little.
It’s likely that the Zimbabweans will keep the same seam attack of Tinashe Panyangara, Shingi Masakadza and Tendai Chatara.
Opener Tino Mawoyo could be sacrificed for an opening partnership of Hamilton Masakadza and Vusi Sibanda.
Masakadza, who was the stand-in captain in the opening Test, believes less time to prepare the pitch may make the track a tricky one to bat on.
“It’s going to get a lot worse, a lot quicker. It’s going to be tough for the groundsman with such a short turnaround and the spinners will definitely come into play much more in the second innings,” said Masakadza.
That’s the challenge that Zimbabwe faces.
If they win the toss they would want to send Pakistan in to bat first hoping their seamers, as they usually do, will find something in the pitch in the early morning conditions.
But then, that also means they have to bat last in the fourth innings of this match, and with Pakistan and their spinners, that means trouble.
Probable Teams
Zimbabwe: Vusi Sibanda, Hamilton Masakadza, Brendan Taylor, Sean Williams, Sikandar Raza, Malcolm Waller, Elton Chigumbura, Prosper Utseya, Shingi Masakadza, Tinashe Panyangara, Tendai Chatara.
Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez, Khurram Manzoor, Asad Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Asad Shafiq, Adnan Akmal, Abdur Rehman, Saeed Ajmal, Junaid Khan, Rahat Ali.
Online Reporter