Stats highlights from Zimbabwe's rare triumph against Pakistan at Harare

Zimbabwe v Pakistan, 2nd Test, Harare, 5th day

September 14, 2013

Zimbabwe's Test win against Pakistan, at Harare, was only their fifth against Test-playing nations excluding Bangladesh. Pakistan have been at the receiving end three times. India have lost two Tests against Zimbabwe. The last time Zimbabwe won a Test against a major Test-playing nation was in 2001, when they beat India by four wickets. This was their 11th win in Tests from 93 Tests; six of these winshave come against Bangladesh.

 

The last time Zimbabwe drew a Test series against a major Test-playing nation, before this, was in 2001 against India with an identical score-line. This was only their eighth drawn series against the major Test-playing nations. They have two series wins, one each against Pakistan and India. The series win against Pakistan in 1998 was an away series involving three Tests, which Zimbabwe won 1-0. Zimbabwe had won their first series ever, just over a month before that, beating India in a one-off Test in Harare.

 

This was the first instance of two Zimbabwe bowlers taking five-wicket hauls in a Test win. Brian Vitori and Tendai Chatara, both joined Andy Blignaut, Heath Streak and Henry Olonga as the only Zimbabwe bowlers to take a five-wicket haul in Test wins.

 

This was Zimbabwe's closest win in term of runs; their narrowest win before this match was against India at the same venue in 1998, when they won by a margin of 61 runs. This was also Pakistan's narrowestTest loss, in terms of runs, beating their loss to England at Leeds in 1971 by just one run.

 

This calendar year is truly a rare one for Zimbabwe: they have won two or more Tests in the same year only twice since their Test debut in 1992. The year 2001 was the best in terms of the number of wins, when they won four Tests, one against India and three against Bangladesh.

 

The eleventh hour change of the venue increased Zimbabwe's chances of winning, at least statistically, with seven of their previous ten Test wins having come at the venue. With this win, their tally of wins at the Harare Sports Club has gone up to eight from 31 Tests. Four of their five Test wins against Pakistan and India have come at this venue. Zimbabwe have won only one away Test, against Pakistan, at Peshawar in 1998.

Misbah-ul-Haq's 79 is the second-highest unbeaten score by a captain in a losing cause in chases in Tests.Clive Lloyd's 91 against Australia at the MCG in 1976 is the highest. Misbah's 79* is only the tenth instance of a captain remaining unbeaten on a score of fifty or more in unsuccessful chases in Tests.

 

Misbah's 79 also equals the highest score by a Pakistan captain in a losing cause in the fourth innings of a Test. Javed Miandad also scored 79 against Australia at Perth in 1981.

 

Younis Khan won the third Man-of-the-Series award of his career in this series, the most by a Pakistan batsman. He has drawn level with Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Yousuf.

CLT20 route cleared for Faisalabad Wolves.

Faisalabad Wolves, Pakistan's domestic Twenty20 champions, will travel to India to take part in the Champions League T20 after the Indian Embassy in Pakistan granted the players their visas following days of uncertainty.

The Faisalabad players had dispersed on Thursday evening from their training camp and went home assuming they would need time to pack if the visas were issued. The PCB had also told that the visas had neither been issued nor denied. 

On Friday, the PCB asked the players to report at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore because the visas had been obtained, a Faisalabad player told.

The players are scheduled to depart in two batches; those in Lahore are due to leave on Saturday while three players in the Pakistan national team - Misbah-ul-Haq, Saeed Ajmal and Ehsan Adil - are due to fly from Zimbabwe on the completion of the current series. The last day of the ongoing second Test in Harare is on Saturday.

Faisalabad will be only the second Pakistan team to take part in the Champions League and the first in India - Sialkot Stallions competed in the 2012 tournament in South Africa. They play their first match on September 17 in Mohali against Otago Volts.

A team from Pakistan had been invited for the first edition in 2008 but that tournament was postponed because of the terror attacks in Mumbai and no further invitation was issued to Pakistan until 2012.

Akhtar to PCB: Stop running after BCCI

Instead of running after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for normalising cricket ties, the Pakistan Cricket Board should focus on converting the national team into a world class side, former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar has said.

The Indian government has rejected visa applications of the players of Pakistani side Faisalabad Wolves, which was to play in the Champions League Twenty20 tournament.

"I am not surprised that the Indians have not issued visas to the Faisalabad Wolves team for the Champions League.

The fact is that until and unless we have normal and friendly relations at the government-to-government level why do we expect the Indian cricket board to be supportive.

"I have always said that we don't need to run after India all the time and we need to stop begging on different issues whether it is resumption of bilateral cricket ties, allowing our players for the IPL or our team for the Champions League," Akhtar said.

The outspoken fast bowler said that BCCI simply followed the policy of its government when it came to Pakistan.

"We should have never expected them to issue visas for the Faisalabad team. When they first invited us we should have taken a bold stance and said 'thank you'. When will we as a nation or board show some self respect and pride in our stance towards India," he told a TV channel.

Akhtar said it was time that PCB starts making efforts to develop the national side into a strong team.

"(What we will lose?) A few hundred thousand dollars. But it is time we stopped going after India all the time. We need to set our house in order and strengthen our own domestic cricket and infrastructure.

"We need to concentrate on building up our cricket structure and building up a world class side. When we have a world class side everyone will not only want to play against us but on our terms as well," he said.

"There is no doubt that the standard of cricket has not only gone down in Pakistan but even worldwide. But in Pakistan we are facing problems because we haven't had a bold captain like Imran Khan for years now and we are not facing role model players who serve as inspiration to others," Akhtar added.

He said that Indian cricket had progressed not because of the IPL but because of just one man...Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

"Dhoni may not be as good looking as Imran but he has all the qualities of Imran as a captain and player and he has given their cricket a new direction and life. He has turned Indian cricket around."

He also lashed out at the ICC and member boards for not realising that there was urgent need to inject money into Test and one-day international cricket.

"These were the formats which are real cricket and these were formats where players should be earning more money but instead the money was injected into T20 cricket and the IPL has taken the lead in this," he said.

No Pakistan Team for CLT20 ?

Faisalabad Wolves, Pakistan's domestic Twenty20 champions, are optimistic of taking part in the Champions League though they have not yet been issued with visas for India. They have been training and focusing on their cricket, team officials said, in preparation for the tournament.

Faisalabad play their first match on September 17 in Mohali, and they called off their last practice session scheduled for Thursday evening in the expectation that they would be issued their visas and would need time to pack.

However, there was no official indication either way from the Indian government or the BCCI on whether the visas would be granted. The PCB also told that the visas had neither been issued nor denied.

 

"The players have been training assuming that they are going to depart as planned," Haroon Rasheed, the Faisalabad team manager, told. "There may be some uncertainty but the players are asked to just focus on cricket and nothing else. We have completed our conditioning camp and the players have dispersed to do their packing and get ready by tonight."

If they get their visas, Faisalabad will be only the second Pakistan team to take part in the Champions League and the first in India - Sialkot Stallions competed in the 2012 tournament in South Africa.

The mood within the camp was one of hope and excitement. "For us who haven't played at the national level it is a mega event," one player said. "It will boost our careers. We are obviously down but are hopeful. It would be really unfair for us to be denied at the last hour. If they did not want to allow us they should have denied earlier instead of taking so long."

The players are scheduled to depart in two batches; those in Lahore are due to leave on Saturday while three players in the Pakistan national team - Misbah ul Haq, Saeed Ajmal and Ehsan Adil - are due to fly from Zimbabwe on the completion of the current series. The last day of the ongoing second Test in Harare is on Saturday.

New records for Pakistan Test Cricket

Zimbabwe v Pakistan, 2nd Test, Harare, 2nd day - September 11, 2013

Younis Khan has become the fourth Pakistan batsman to reach 7000 runs in Tests.

Younis  carried on from where he left off in the first Test as he played another solid innings for Pakistan on the second day of the second Test against Zimbabwe at Harare Sports Club on Wednesday.

Younis followed up a match-winning double century in the first Test with an unbeaten 52 as Pakistan reached 163 for three at the close of play in reply to Zimbabwe's first innings total of 294.

When he reached 50 for the 49th time in Test cricket Younis became the fourth Pakistan batsman to reach 7000 runs in Tests.

Runs - Player

8832  -  Javed Miandad

8829  -  Inzamam-ul-Haq

7530  -  Mohammad Yousuf

7004  -  Younis Khan

Khurram Manzoor became the first Pakistani opener to reach 50 this year

 Manzoor has become the first Pakistani opener to reach 50 this year before he was run out for 51 in an unnecessary mixup to leave Pakistan teetering precariously at 96 for three.

This year highest runs scored by Pakistani Openers 
51 - Khurram Manzoor

46 - Nasir Jamshed

30 - Imran Farhat

27 - Azhar Ali

22- Mohammad Hafeez 

The only Captain to have hit a century in all the three formats.

Tillakaratne Dilshan is the only captain to have hit a century in all the three formats of the game. While 48 captains have hit hundreds in both ODIs and Tests, Dilshan is the only captain among them to have hit a century in T20 Internationals.

The Chicken Run

 

Zimbabwe v Pakistan, 2nd Test, Harare, 1st day

September 10, 2013

 

  

It was not a former cricketer who made a surprise appearance at the ground this time but it could have been the property of one. Shortly after Masakadza was dismissed, a chicken was spotted clucking along the boundary. Having notched up 75 runs, there were no jokes on Masakadza about ducks, but there were many wondering if Eddo Brandes, the former Zimbabwe player who is also a chicken farmer, had anything to do with the visitor.