Azhar Ali and Abid Ali make a run during Friday s day one of the second Test against Zimbabwe. Photo: PCB Twitter
Centuries by Abid Ali and Azhar Ali put Pakistan in a strong position on the first day of the second Test against Zimbabwe at Harare Sports Club on Friday.
Abid (118 not out) and Azhar (126) put on 236 for the second wicket before tall fast bowler Blessing Muzarabani brought Zimbabwe back into the match by taking three wickets with the second new ball.
Pakistan had reached 268 for four at the close.
Abid and Azhar came together with the total on 12 in the eighth over and ground down the Zimbabwe bowlers before Azhar edged Muzarabani to gully in the last half hour of the day.
Daily Times
May 7, 2021
HARARE: Test cricket is perhaps the format where Pakistan’s progress is most discernible. There is a stability about the side which is lacking in the other formats, with the results beginning to show something of an uptick of late. Performances against Zimbabwe may not appease the critics but remain vital, because an upset would undo much of the good work of recent times, something that should be front and centre across the visitors’ minds especially after the last time Pakistan played a series in Zimbabwe. Having won the first match convincingly, they succumbed to a chastening 24-run loss in the second in 2013. They will need to ensure this series doesn’t follow a similar pattern, especially after a disappointing T20I leg, where they scraped to two victories sandwiched by an embarrassing defeat in which they were skittled out for 99.
Abid and Azhar centuries put Pakistan in strong position
Issued on:
07/05/2021 - 18:46 Unbeaten century for Pakistan s Abid Ali Aamir QURESHI AFP/File 4 min
Harare (AFP)
Centuries by Abid Ali and Azhar Ali put Pakistan in a strong position on the first day of the second Test against Zimbabwe at Harare Sports Club on Friday.
Abid (118 not out) and Azhar (126) put on 236 for the second wicket before tall fast bowler Blessing Muzarabani brought Zimbabwe back into the match by taking three wickets with the second new ball.
Pakistan had reached 268 for four at the close.
Abid and Azhar came together with the total on 12 in the eighth over and ground down the Zimbabwe bowlers before Azhar edged Muzarabani to gully in the last half hour of the day.
By Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE stand-in captain Brendan Taylor believes the Chevrons will need to put on a better batting display in the second Test which begins Friday at the Harare Sports Club in order to have any chance of salvaging the series.
The Chevrons lost the opening by an innings and 116 runs inside three of the scheduled five days after putting on a lifeless performance with the bat, managing paltry scores of 176 and 134 in the two innings of the match.
This left Pakistan needing to bat only once in the match after scoring 426 runs in their first innings.
Middle-order batsman Roy Kaia was the highest scorer with 48 runs on his debut while the rest of the batting lineup struggled against the Pakistani bowlers.
Hasan leads Pakistan’s rout of Zimbabwe in first Test
AFP
2nd May, 2021 09:27:14
Fast bowler Hasan Ali registered career best figures of 5-36 to lead Pakistan to a comprehensive innings and 116 run annihilation of Zimbabwe in the first Test in Harare on Saturday.
The 26-year-old finished with 9-89 in the match as Zimbabwe’s batting crumbled for the second time in the match, all out for 134 with an hour remaining on the third day at Harare sports club.
The victory gives Pakistan a 1-0 lead in the two-match series. The second Test is also in Harare from May 7.
Zimbabwe, who were bowled out for 176 in the first innings, were facing an innings defeat at tea with the total at 118-5.