Incremental gains squandered by Zimbabwe

The final day was written off as nothing more than an exercise in time keeping and it became evident the clock had been speeded up as early as the eighth ball of the morning

Disappointment, like many things in life, comes in more than one form. There is the dark, foreboding type which like a bad smell or storm clouds, hangs in the air for too long and spoils a sunny day. And there is the lighter, less serious kind which can be dealt with by masking it in cynicism and humour. Zimbabwean fans' acceptance of their loss to Pakistan was the latter. 

They gave each other knowing looks and managed wry smiles and jokes as they watched Zimbabwe's resistance crumble quicker than a pillar of salt. The truth is that the match was considered lost on Friday evening when Younis Khan and Rahat Ali took the target beyond reach. The final day was written off as nothing more than an exercise in time keeping and it became evident the clock had been speeded up as early as the eighth ball of the morning. 

Hamilton Masakadza was dismissed before the first coffees had been sipped and when Vusi Sibanda followed nine balls later, Zimbabwe's hopes of batting out a long period were all but stubbed out in those early exchanges. 

The possibility of an embarrassingly hefty loss became more real when two first-innings heroes, Malcolm Waller and Sikandar Raza, fell to Abdur Rehman. Both played shots they will, in hindsight, not be happy with - Waller sweeping a flighted ball and Raza pushing forward for turn to a straight one - and their departure underlined the feebleness of Zimbabwe's challenge. 

Their preoccupation with the threat Saeed Ajmal would pose on a surface that was keeping low and taking more turn than Hamilton Masakadza seemed to suggest it would when he decided Zimbabwe would bat last, meant they almost forgot about the rest of the attack. Junaid Khan and Rehman had the advantage of surprise and used it well. 

Junaid bowled an incisive spell, moving the ball back into the batsmen and startling them with the occasional bouncer while Ajmal kept the batsmen guessing from the other end. By the time they were replaced with Rahat Ali and Rehman, Zimbabwe made the mistake of thinking the pressure was off. Waller, having just hit Rehman for four, had no reason to take him on the very next ball. Similarly Raza, who had been confident against spin throughout, perhaps became overly so. 

With the middle order snuffed out, Zimbabwe's quick end was being predicted by everyone including the television crew. They took a media sweepstake from 48 people, including cameramen, technicians and journalists, on when the last wicket would fall. Before lunch was the popular choice.

There were some cheers when Elton Chigumbura played his natural, attacking game but that quickly turned to jeers when he gave Mohammad Hafeez catching practice at slip. Attention turned firmly to the South African rugby team's match against Australia, which was being broadcast in the Centurion Pub at the end of the next over when Ajmal had accounted for both Prosper Utseya and Shingi Masakadza. 

Some took farcical solace in the fact that the interval - once considered cricket's only immovable apart from Rahul Dravid - was extended to allow Pakistan to finish Zimbabwe off. At least Zimbabwe had lasted more than a session, they joked to each other. When Tendai Chatara had some fun at the end, with a couple of swipes over midwicket, the noise levels through clapping and whistling were the highest they had been all match. 

It was a pity they were tinged with such irony and an even greater pity that on the day more people were able to come to the ground than any other, by virtue of it being a weekend, they saw the home team at their worst. Some of those people have been keeping an eye on Zimbabwe's progress over the match and although they did not want to get their hopes too high, were heartened by what they saw.

For an hour short of four days, Zimbabwe had the better of Pakistan. They managed to shelve their off-field troubles and conjured up a performance with heart. Tinashe Panyangara, Chatara and Shingi Masakadza showed discipline Zimbabwe's bowlers have lacked in the past, Utseya found some turn and there was a middle-order fightback that Zimbabwe have not had in recent times. All that unravelled in the time it took Younis to push on his accelerator pedal and made Zimbabwe's second innings irrelevant. 

Long-suffering supporters will remember only that. Incremental gains don't mean much to them because the end result is still the same. At the Centurion Pub, there is nothing to celebrate to. The usual drowning of sorrows will take place before many of them return again next week, hoping for a different outcome but not actually expecting one.

They do not regard the incremental gains as small victories and, unless those can eventually add up to something, one can understand why they dismiss them that way. As far as people at Harare Sports Club are concerned, the only winner from this match apart from Pakistan was commentator Ed Rainsford, who correctly predicted the last man would troop back to the changeroom at 12:36. He has US$48 to show for it.

Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo's South Africa correspondent

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Zimbabwe Tests ideal preparation for SA - Younis

Younis Khan rated the quality of Zimbabwe's bowlers so highly that he regards the two-Test series in Harare as ideal preparation for Pakistan's next challenge against the No.1 ranked Test team. Pakistan take on South Africa in the UAE after the Zimbabwe leg wraps up and Younis hopes the experience gained here can be put to good use on that assignment.

"The Zimbabweans bowled so well, they made it difficult for us, it's definitely good practice for us when we get back to Dubai," Younis said. "Also, the wicket is very good so we can really get some time but they are making it tough for us to score runs."

Although Zimbabwe's attack did not profit as much as they did on the first day, when there was still something in the surface, as they tied Pakistan down to a scoring rate of 2.4. Hamilton Masakadza, the Zimbabwe captain, was pleased with the effort on a pitch that was at its best for batting. "The guys bowled really well, they applied themselves, they stuck at it and that was good to see," he said.

Having had Pakistan at 23 for 3, Zimbabwe may have hoped to limit them even further but Masakadza said Younis, in particular, made that tough. "He put us under pressure because he was not just looking to be there, he was also looking for run-scoring opportunities," Masakadza said. "We had to set more defensive fields as well."

Younis and Misbah-ul-Haq shared a fourth-wicket stand of 116 to get Pakistan out of trouble but the old hands' rescue act was not simply a cause for celebration. Their ongoing efforts to steady Pakistan points to an over-reliance on seniors and raises concerns about the next generation. Younis is hopeful they will improve with time.

"Test cricket is all about patience and the young guys, sometimes they come from ODIs and Twenty20s so they need to learn," Younis said. "It's for the senior players like myself and Misbah and [Mohammad] Hafeez to help them and we are here to do that. The other thing is that we are not playing Test cricket regularly, the last time was almost six months ago. You need to play regularly to learn."

Pakistan's call for more Test cricket has been made on numerous occasions, especially by Misbah in South Africa in March. Younis has not played international cricket since then and most of the squad has been occupied with one-day competitions. That's why, according to Younis, the trip to Zimbabwe is so important for them. "This is what we need and we are enjoying playing here," he said.

As much as the experience of it is worthwhile for Pakistan, getting the expected results is also important and Younis is confident they can beat Zimbabwe in the longest format as well as they did in the shorter ones. Asked what he thought was a defendable total, he said, "Anything," before qualifying that to, "something like 200 or 300. Anything."

Younis believes the pitch will take more turn, "especially towards the end," but Masakadza remains hopeful it will not be much more. He said the cracks have only opened a touch, with "nothing too frightening at this stage," and thinks Zimbabwe could chase something "around 250."

Still, he is wary of Saeed Ajmal, after the spinner took seven wickets in the first innings. "We know he is going to be their main threat and the guys have their plans," Masakadza said. "Some will be looking to use the sweep and others to play as straight as possible. But I'm feeling pretty confident."

Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo's South Africa correspondent

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Zimbabwe steady after early Mawoyo exit

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Aakash Chopra: How Kevin Pietersen's unique batting style makes him one of the most difficult batsmen to bowl to

    A modern-day Benaud?

Ashley Mallett: Steven Smith has the talent to become a Test-standard bowling allrounder, the best of his type since Richie Benaud

    Best birthdays, and Finch's flail

Ask Steven: Also, highest T20 score in a losing cause, most overs by a quickie in a Test, and double on debut by a woman

The Bradman standard

Kartikeya Date: The Don is head and shoulders above the rest, but which batsmen come closest?

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Zimbabwe batsmen balance aggression with patience

Zimbabwe's batsmen have lacked staying power in the past. Their middle order reversed that trend and their handling of the spinners showed improvement

The first ball Malcolm Waller faced was a standard Saeed Ajmal offbreak. It turned, but not so much that he was surprised by it. In fact, Waller seemed perfectly prepared.

Waller moved to the ball, as though he had waited for it the whole day. He drove it through the covers with the placement and timing of someone who had replayed doing that in their mind multiple times. It pierced the gap and sailed to the boundary as though traveling on a silk sheet while Waller admired it from the crease. There weren't many others at the ground but those who were would have agreed: that was a superb stroke.

Zimbabwean batsmen have been known to bring out similar stunners in the past, some of which made an appearance in this innings. Vusi Sibanda's pull, which he managed to keep under wraps until a Rahat Ali delivery was short enough, and his off-drive were two examples. Tino Mawoyo's pushes down the ground which appear effortless as they beat the non-striker were another.

Even Hamilton Masakadza's block was beautiful because it was strong. But that shot from Waller was different. It symbolised something other than the ability to produce an eye-catching stroke on occasion. Because he did it again and again as the day went on, it illustrated progress.

Zimbabwe's batsmen have lacked staying power in the past, especially in their middle order, so to have a fourth-wicket stand worth 127 and No.4 and 5 in the batting line-up end the day as the top-scorers showed improvement. To have them handle spinners with such ease demonstrated their development even further.

Just six months ago, albeit in more spinner-friendly conditions, Shane Shillingford and Marlon Samuels reduced their batting to what can only be called the remains of an international line-up. Today, they dealt with Ajmal and Abdur Rehman with confidence and poise, enough to be able to have stacked two good days of Test cricket together.

The resistance began much earlier, when Zimbabwe's openers stood firm against an assault from Pakistan's openers. Junaid Khan and Rahat produced exceptional first spells. They both found movement - Junaid swinging it away from the right-handers and Rahat curling it in - and both kept Zimbabwe on their toes.

Mawoyo had an lbw appeal against him with the first delivery of the innings but it had pitched outside leg. Rahat cut through Sibanda with one that hit the top of the pad and went over the stumps in the second over. Every ball seemed to do something, whether it bounced or swung.

After a few tense deliveries, one of them would overpitch and runs would come. Then, it was back to the uncertainty. Sibanda had a few inner battles to fight as he contemplated whether to play the ball or not. Both had to judge the extra bounce, take a gamble on whether the swing would become too dangerous and then decide to leave or not. If they got bat on ball, then they could begin hoping there was enough time to complete a quick run.

Having not played competitive cricket for six months, it did not take too long for Mawoyo to judge one incorrectly, but the 40 minutes he spent at the crease used up time, which was important for those who followed. Masakadza did a similar thing. He demonstrated patience and temperament Zimbabwe have lacked in the recent past and began to see off the first of the spinners with Sibanda.

Rehman did not pose much of a threat. When he tossed it up, the batsmen responded but they were willing to bide their time against anything else. The same applied to Ajmal when he came on, although Masakadza gave him a sign that it was not going to be hard work for him when he launched him over the clubhouse for six in his first over.

With little assistance from the surface, Ajmal had to rely purely on his own skill. He turned a few and he remained deceptive - Masakadza was out playing for a doosra when it was in fact the offbreak - and that was where it could have gone wrong for Zimbabwe. The two old hands, Sibanda and Masakdaza were out off consecutive deliveries and the stage for a collapse was set. Waller's push for four showed Zimbabwe's intent to reverse that trend and the rest of his innings and his partnership with Sikandar Raza rubber-stamped that.

After that shot, they went 12 balls without scoring. Patience, they knew, would be important. But when Junaid went too wide or bowled a full toss, Waller punished him because some show of aggression was important too.

Finding the balance between the two was what Waller indicated was Zimbabwe's biggest challenge. "Previously when we've gone out there and maybe because we don't play a lot of Test cricket, guys are in a hurry," Waller said. "But in this match, most guys are very clear about what they need to do and they know their roles. We've got simple plans and we're trying to stick to them. We're also not as attacking as we used to be."

Waller and Raza took the risk out of their game by only playing shots they were confident of pulling off. The sweep was one of them and Waller used it at will. He was able to play it so often and so successfully, he said, because he had learned to read Ajmal, despite him remaining difficult to face. "I tried to concentrate and watch the ball as closely as I could. I found that I was playing it a lot off the pitch and not from the hand but he was tricky, as he has been most of the other times I have faced him," Waller said.

While Waller scored quickly, Raza hung on and he only quickened up once he was more comfortable. He was rewarded with a fifty on Test debut and when he was dismissed, Zimbabwe were only 37 behind the Pakistan total. So weak has their middle-order been in the recent past that even in that situation, it remained a possibility that Zimbabwe would be bowled out without passing Pakistan's score. That they managed to take a lead represented a different mindset from Zimbabwe. They need to show more such commitment to grow in the elite form of the game.

Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo's South Africa correspondent

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Zimbabwe need to inspire in dark times

Match facts

Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Start time 0930 local (0730 GMT) Big Picture

What must a young, upcoming cricketer in Zimbabwe feel right now? He would be told he has to follow in the footsteps of the Flowers and the Streaks. What he sees are the Ervines and the Ballances, who choose to play cricket in another country. He would be told he has to derive inspiration from the exploits of the Zimbabwe side of the 90s. What he sees is a national team struggling to come up with even a single performance that would inspire him. He wants to believe his life can be all about cricket, only cricket. All around him, there are signs that show such a belief is just not sustainable in practice, at least in Zimbabwe. He hears seniors talk about how difficult it is to provide for their families, he sees the national side threaten to stop playing till they are promised better wages. Two days after the board promises, he sees one of his heroes, fast bowler Kyle Jarvis, all of 24, quit international cricket so that he can play the game for counties and franchises and make some money while his body lasts. He spots a chilling sentence in Jarvis' media statement that thoroughly shakes him up, beliefs and all. "I informed my team-mates yesterday that I would be leaving and they were supportive and fully understood why I was doing this." Half-prepared to give up the game, he looks around for some hope, some sign that everything is not lost for Zimbabwe cricket, where those who choose to stay on support those who choose to leave.

And then Brendan Taylor and his men go down without a fight to Pakistan in the format in which they were supposed to have the best chance of causing an upset. Zimbabwe lost both Twenty20 internationals by considerable margins, their batsmen falling to the Pakistan spinners, who took a combined 4 for 67 and 5 for 75 in the two matches. If they couldn't compete with Pakistan for 40 overs, what chance do they stand over 100 overs?

If they couldn't stop Jarvis from leaving, what chance do they have of preventing others who give up on the country in the future? If this continues to happen, what chance more and more young, upcoming players won't quit either Zimbabwe or cricket much earlier than Jarvis did?

No money from the board, no fight from the players, no inspiration for the followers. Money won't come around for a while, but that should not stop Taylor and his men from putting up a fight. Especially in these dark times, that is the bare minimum the followers of Zimbabwe cricket deserve. We can all do with some inspiration.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan WWTLW
Zimbabwe LLLLL Players to watch

As if all the responsibility of being Zimbabwe's leading batsman and captain wasn't enough, Brendan Taylor also dearly needs to rouse his side at this juncture, with both words as a leader and deeds with the bat. That this hasn't been a productive season for him won't help, but form as a constraint fades before the enormity of the task in front of him. Nasir Jamshed was dropped from the Test side for this tour after just two games against a tough opponent like South Africa. He's spoken about how disappointed he felt, and how he plans to make a come back with good limited-overs performances. He could not do much in the T20s, now comes the format in which he's impressed the most.

Team news

Captain Misbah-ul-Haq, Abdur Rehman and Asad Shafiq are the additions to the Pakistan squad for the ODIs in place of Sohail Tanvir, Zulfiqar Babar and Sohaib Maqsood, although there was a case for keeping the inexperienced batsman Maqsood around the team for the ODI leg.

Pakistan (possible) 1 Nasir Jamshed, 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 5 Asad Shafiq/Umar Amin, 6 Shahid Afridi, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Saeed Ajmal, 9 Asad Ali/Abdur Rehman, 10 Junaid Khan, 11 Mohammad Irfan

In another unfortunate reminder of how things are, Zimbabwe announced their 18-member ODI squad late on the eve of the first ODI, but it remains to be seen what XI features for the game.

Zimbabwe (possible): 1 Vusi Sibanda, 2 Hamilton Masakadza, 3 Sikandar Raza, 4 Brendan Taylor (capt & wk), 5 Malcolm Waller, 6 Sean Williams, 7 Timcyen Maruma, 8 Shingi Masakadza, 9 Prosper Utseya, 10 Brian Vitori, 11 Tinashe Panyangara

Stats and trivia

Pakistan have won 12 of the 15 ODIs they have played in Zimbabwe against the hosts. Zimbabwe were able to win one and tie another, but both those matches were back in 1995 Shahid Afridi has played 354 ODIs for Pakistan, and needs three games to overtake Wasim Akram. Only Inzamam-ul-Haq is in front after that, with 375 matches for his country Abhishek Purohit is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

Feeds: Abhishek Purohit © ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

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Masakadza sets up shock win for Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe 246 for 3 (Masakadza 85, Sibanda 54, Taylor 43*) beat Pakistan 244 for 7 (Misbah 83*, Hafeez 70) by 7 wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

The last time Zimbabwe beat Pakistan in any format was 15 years ago. Back then, Pakistan lost to arguably the most formidable Zimbabwe side in history - one that was capable of standing up to the best international sides. With the cricketing climate in the country having undergone a drastic change since then, any victory by current setup against a top side will be remembered for long. Coming off a disappointing T20 series, where Zimbabwe failed to figure out how to close out a chase, they held their composure and applied themselves better despite the short turnaround time.

A strong opening stand of 107 between Vusi Sibanda and Hamilton Masakadza was the bedrock in their chase of 245. Having dealt with the seamers with ease during the T20s, Zimbabwe's chances of victory hung on how they would perform outside their comfort zone. They looked ill at ease against the spin trio in the T20s but crucially, this time, they didn't let the spinners run away with the advantage. Saeed Ajmal managed to strike, but the long interval between breakthroughs meant that Pakistan were always playing catch-up. In the closing stages, Pakistan had created enough pressure to bring the equation down to a run-a-ball, but a combination of poor fielding and freakish luck meant that it was Zimbabwe's day.

Before this match, Masakadza spoke about the importance of his duty, as an opener, to set the base and not allow pressure to build on the lower order. Back at the top, a position he is comfortable with, and with an opening partner from school days, Masakadza took the initiative by hammering Junaid Khan for three boundaries in an over. The openers were strong through the off side against the left-armers and the boundary barrage prompted captain Misbah-ul-Haq to bring in spin from both ends from the eighth over.

The spinners managed to keep the runs down but wickets eluded them. Misbah used all five bowlers by the end of 12 overs and the breakthrough finally came in the 24th, when Sibanda stayed back to an Ajmal ball that spun back in. Masakadza reached his fifty the following over and continued to take on the spinners, sweeping Ajmal and reading Shahid Afridi's variations. He chipped down the track and lofted Afridi over extra cover for six in an over that produced 13. The frustration showed in Pakistan's fielding, when in that over, a drive back to the bowler which should have been stopped resulted in two runs.

Masakadza fell during the batting Powerplay, smashing Ajmal straight to cover. It was only temporary relief for Pakistan because by then Taylor was set, having already hit four boundaries. Pakistan didn't do themselves any favours in the field, though. A struggling Timycen Maruma tried to loft over long-on but Ahmed Shehzad was in two minds whether to catch or stop the ball and the ball bounced over his head for four. Taylor himself was let-off, on 37, when a reverse sweep went straight to point where Junaid dropped it.

Luck was firmly in Zimbabwe's favour. Maruma's wobbly knock suggested that Zimbabwe were starting to panic, but Sean Williams, aided by some good fortune, ensured his side held the edge with a spicy cameo. An inside edge off Junaid hit the base of the stumps but miraculously, didn't dislodge the bails. Worse still for Pakistan, it went for four. Williams sealed the win in style, smashing a six over midwicket to give Zimbabwe their first ODI win against a top team since October 2011.

Pakistan, winning the toss, found runs hard to come by at the start due to steady seam bowling, recovered in the middle thanks to Mohammad Hafeez's brisk half-century, and stumbled towards the end, failing to accelerate due to the pressure caused by the sudden fall of wickets. What prevented them from suffering a complete meltdown was Misbah-ul-Haq, who carried on his good form from the West Indies with his fourth consecutive fifty.

It was a mixed day for Zimbabwe in the field. A series of drops at the start showed that the team had hardly made any progress on that front since the India tour. Mohammad Hafeez was a beneficiary of one of those drops, when on 10. He went on to score 70, but the pace of his innings was crucial, with Misbah not deviating from his tried and tested conservative approach in the middle overs.

Hafeez found early momentum with three sixes off Prosper Utseya, down the ground, though he was lucky the second one wasn't pouched at the boundary's edge. Hafeez was strong through the off side, punishing the offspinners in particular. He picked 48 of his 70 runs off Utseya and Malcolm Waller, picking the large gaps square of the wicket on the off side.

Pakistan struggled to maintain a healthy run-rate following that wicket. Umar Amin was run-out trying to complete a second run. Afridi played a typical blink-and-you-missed-it cameo before edging a slog. Haris Sohail was caught brilliantly by Utseya, who plucked a one-handed blinder at short cover - a catch good enough to forget the sitters put down earlier by Zimbabwe.

Misbah's innings had a high percentage of singles - he had scored only two fours till the 46th over, and yet had managed a decent strike-rate of 81.69. Yet, he saved his big hitting only for the final over, mowing Tinashe Panyangara for massive blows over the on side to take Pakistan to 244. It was well short of stretching the hosts, who are a win away from sealing the series.

Kanishkaa Balachandran is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

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Rare chance for Zimbabwe to secure silverware

Match facts

Saturday, August 31, 2013
Start time 0930 local (0730 GMT) Big Picture

It's not often that you get a second crack at winning a series against a top side if you are Zimbabwe. They may have lost the second ODI by a heavy margin, but that has only meant that the last game of the three-match contest is nicely poised with the series up for grabs. Pakistan were lax in the first ODI, but as they showed in the second, they are unlikely to repeat the mistakes and are favourites to take the series. Zimbabwe, on the other hand, not only need to find their best game, but also somehow concentrate despite the chafing presence of the player payments issue in the background that has put the remaining matches in the series - including the third ODI - under cloud. But there is something about the way Zimbabwe are playing in this series. They do not appear mere pushovers who are just required to take the field for the other team to stroll to a win. They are making Pakistan work hard, they are handling Pakistan's bowlers appreciably well. Saeed Ajmal has taken a couple of wickets in each ODI, but he hasn't run through the side. Shahid Afridi, a menacing bowler for most teams, has not been able to pick a wicket. Mohammad Hafeez is wicket-less as well and Zimbabwe have managed to cross 200 in both matches.

It's a huge confidence boost for a struggling team against one of the most potent attacks in the world. Zimbabwe would believe that if they are to cause an upset before the Test matches, it has to come through their batting. The top order has been in decent form and the middle order has been contributing valuable runs.

Pakistan, though, would hope their openers come good and play meaningful innings. There is the calming presence of Misbah-ul-Haq and Hafeez in the middle order, but the rest of the batsmen haven't shown consistency or leadership in building an innings. Not yet. That's the chink in Pakistan's armour Zimbabwe need to exploit. It could be their last chance to earn some glory as Pakistan are unlikely to cede any territory when the Tests begin.

Form guide

Pakistan WLWWT (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Zimbabwe LWLLL Players to watch

Nasir Jamshed, one of the most promising batsmen in world cricket, had an exciting start to the year. Things have fizzled down a bit since then. The selectors' decision to drop him from the Test squad raised a few eyebrows, but with scores of 2, 23, 27 and 32 on this tour, the case against him has only got stronger. Pakistan have two important tours against South Africa and Sri Lanka later this year and this match is Jamshed's last chance to bring himself back into the spotlight. Brian Vitori has picked up a couple of wickets in both the matches. In the second ODI, he dismissed two specialist batsmen in the first half of the innings, but was taken for runs towards the end. However, in the first ODI, his spells were a mirror image: he was expensive at the start, but incisive towards the end. He bowls with good pace and if he can stay consistent during the match, he is always a threat to pick wickets.

Team news

Questions were asked of Brendan Taylor during the post-match press conference after the second ODI about Timycen Maruma's place in the XI and the absence of Pakistan-born Sikandar Raza. Taylor defended the inclusion of Maruma saying the batsman has looked better in the nets. But with five failures in a row, Maruma may have run out of breathing space. Taylor indicated Zimbabwe might make a couple of changes. Zimbabwe (possible): 1 Vusi Sibanda, 2 Hamilton Masakadza, 3 Brendan Taylor (capt & wk), 4 Timycen Maruma/Sikandar Raza , 5 Malcolm Waller, 6 Sean Williams, 7 Elton Chigumbura, 8 Tendai Chatara, 9 Prosper Utseya, 10 Brian Vitori, 11 Tinashe Panyangara

Pakistan are unlikely to disturb the winning combination for the crucial match.

Pakistan (possible) 1 Nasir Jamshed, 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 5 Umar Amin, 6 Shahid Afridi, 7 Abdur Rehman, 8 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 9 Saeed Ajmal, 10 Junaid Khan, 11 Mohammad Irfan

Stats and trivia

Misbah-ul-Haq is the leading ODI batsman this year, with 894 runs. He has hit 10 half-centuries in this period, which is one-third of his career tally. When he was dismissed for 3 in the last match, it was only the third time this year he was out for a single-digit score. He averages a whopping 59.60 this year, but his strike-rate is 71.57, almost two points below his career strike-rate Brendan Taylor, who has scored 483 runs more than Misbah in his career, has had a poor year till now. He is averaging 23 this year after staying over 40 in each of the previous four years. Quotes

"Raza has had a fair run. To me he's new to the side and we know he has got serious ability so we need to try and back him and he's definitely going to contribute but it's not going well for him and that's the nature of the game."
Brendan Taylor on Sikandar Raza Devashish Fuloria is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

Feeds: Devashish Fuloria © ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

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Zimbabwe need to inspire in dark times

Match facts

Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Start time 0930 local (0730 GMT) Big Picture

What must a young, upcoming cricketer in Zimbabwe feel right now? He would be told he has to follow in the footsteps of the Flowers and the Streaks. What he sees are the Ervines and the Ballances, who choose to play cricket in another country. He would be told he has to derive inspiration from the exploits of the Zimbabwe side of the 90s. What he sees is a national team struggling to come up with even a single performance that would inspire him. He wants to believe his life can be all about cricket, only cricket. All around him, there are signs that show such a belief is just not sustainable in practice, at least in Zimbabwe. He hears seniors talk about how difficult it is to provide for their families, he sees the national side threaten to stop playing till they are promised better wages. Two days after the board promises, he sees one of his heroes, fast bowler Kyle Jarvis, all of 24, quit international cricket so that he can play the game for counties and franchises and make some money while his body lasts. He spots a chilling sentence in Jarvis' media statement that thoroughly shakes him up, beliefs and all. "I informed my team-mates yesterday that I would be leaving and they were supportive and fully understood why I was doing this." Half-prepared to give up the game, he looks around for some hope, some sign that everything is not lost for Zimbabwe cricket, where those who choose to stay on support those who choose to leave.

And then Brendan Taylor and his men go down without a fight to Pakistan in the format in which they were supposed to have the best chance of causing an upset. Zimbabwe lost both Twenty20 internationals by considerable margins, their batsmen falling to the Pakistan spinners, who took a combined 4 for 67 and 5 for 75 in the two matches. If they couldn't compete with Pakistan for 40 overs, what chance do they stand over 100 overs?

If they couldn't stop Jarvis from leaving, what chance do they have of preventing others who give up on the country in the future? If this continues to happen, what chance more and more young, upcoming players won't quit either Zimbabwe or cricket much earlier than Jarvis did?

No money from the board, no fight from the players, no inspiration for the followers. Money won't come around for a while, but that should not stop Taylor and his men from putting up a fight. Especially in these dark times, that is the bare minimum the followers of Zimbabwe cricket deserve. We can all do with some inspiration.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan WWTLW
Zimbabwe LLLLL Players to watch

As if all the responsibility of being Zimbabwe's leading batsman and captain wasn't enough, Brendan Taylor also dearly needs to rouse his side at this juncture, with both words as a leader and deeds with the bat. That this hasn't been a productive season for him won't help, but form as a constraint fades before the enormity of the task in front of him. Nasir Jamshed was dropped from the Test side for this tour after just two games against a tough opponent like South Africa. He's spoken about how disappointed he felt, and how he plans to make a come back with good limited-overs performances. He could not do much in the T20s, now comes the format in which he's impressed the most.

Team news

Captain Misbah-ul-Haq, Abdur Rehman and Asad Shafiq are the additions to the Pakistan squad for the ODIs in place of Sohail Tanvir, Zulfiqar Babar and Sohaib Maqsood, although there was a case for keeping the inexperienced batsman Maqsood around the team for the ODI leg.

Pakistan (possible) 1 Nasir Jamshed, 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 5 Asad Shafiq/Umar Amin, 6 Shahid Afridi, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Saeed Ajmal, 9 Asad Ali/Abdur Rehman, 10 Junaid Khan, 11 Mohammad Irfan

In another unfortunate reminder of how things are, Zimbabwe announced their 18-member ODI squad late on the eve of the first ODI, but it remains to be seen what XI features for the game.

Zimbabwe (possible): 1 Vusi Sibanda, 2 Hamilton Masakadza, 3 Sikandar Raza, 4 Brendan Taylor (capt & wk), 5 Malcolm Waller, 6 Sean Williams, 7 Timcyen Maruma, 8 Shingi Masakadza, 9 Prosper Utseya, 10 Brian Vitori, 11 Tinashe Panyangara

Stats and trivia

Pakistan have won 12 of the 15 ODIs they have played in Zimbabwe against the hosts. Zimbabwe were able to win one and tie another, but both those matches were back in 1995 Shahid Afridi has played 354 ODIs for Pakistan, and needs three games to overtake Wasim Akram. Only Inzamam-ul-Haq is in front after that, with 375 matches for his country Abhishek Purohit is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

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Masakadza sets up shock win for Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe 246 for 3 (Masakadza 85, Sibanda 54, Taylor 43*) beat Pakistan 244 for 7 (Misbah 83*, Hafeez 70) by 7 wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

The last time Zimbabwe beat Pakistan in any format was 15 years ago. Back then, Pakistan lost to arguably the most formidable Zimbabwe side in history - one that was capable of standing up to the best international sides. With the cricketing climate in the country having undergone a drastic change since then, any victory by current setup against a top side will be remembered for long. Coming off a disappointing T20 series, where Zimbabwe failed to figure out how to close out a chase, they held their composure and applied themselves better despite the short turnaround time.

A strong opening stand of 107 between Vusi Sibanda and Hamilton Masakadza was the bedrock in their chase of 245. Having dealt with the seamers with ease during the T20s, Zimbabwe's chances of victory hung on how they would perform outside their comfort zone. They looked ill at ease against the spin trio in the T20s but crucially, this time, they didn't let the spinners run away with the advantage. Saeed Ajmal managed to strike, but the long interval between breakthroughs meant that Pakistan were always playing catch-up. In the closing stages, Pakistan had created enough pressure to bring the equation down to a run-a-ball, but a combination of poor fielding and freakish luck meant that it was Zimbabwe's day.

Before this match, Masakadza spoke about the importance of his duty, as an opener, to set the base and not allow pressure to build on the lower order. Back at the top, a position he is comfortable with, and with an opening partner from school days, Masakadza took the initiative by hammering Junaid Khan for three boundaries in an over. The openers were strong through the off side against the left-armers and the boundary barrage prompted captain Misbah-ul-Haq to bring in spin from both ends from the eighth over.

The spinners managed to keep the runs down but wickets eluded them. Misbah used all five bowlers by the end of 12 overs and the breakthrough finally came in the 24th, when Sibanda stayed back to an Ajmal ball that spun back in. Masakadza reached his fifty the following over and continued to take on the spinners, sweeping Ajmal and reading Shahid Afridi's variations. He chipped down the track and lofted Afridi over extra cover for six in an over that produced 13. The frustration showed in Pakistan's fielding, when in that over, a drive back to the bowler which should have been stopped resulted in two runs.

Masakadza fell during the batting Powerplay, smashing Ajmal straight to cover. It was only temporary relief for Pakistan because by then Taylor was set, having already hit four boundaries. Pakistan didn't do themselves any favours in the field, though. A struggling Timycen Maruma tried to loft over long-on but Ahmed Shehzad was in two minds whether to catch or stop the ball and the ball bounced over his head for four. Taylor himself was let-off, on 37, when a reverse sweep went straight to point where Junaid dropped it.

Luck was firmly in Zimbabwe's favour. Maruma's wobbly knock suggested that Zimbabwe were starting to panic, but Sean Williams, aided by some good fortune, ensured his side held the edge with a spicy cameo. An inside edge off Junaid hit the base of the stumps but miraculously, didn't dislodge the bails. Worse still for Pakistan, it went for four. Williams sealed the win in style, smashing a six over midwicket to give Zimbabwe their first ODI win against a top team since October 2011.

Pakistan, winning the toss, found runs hard to come by at the start due to steady seam bowling, recovered in the middle thanks to Mohammad Hafeez's brisk half-century, and stumbled towards the end, failing to accelerate due to the pressure caused by the sudden fall of wickets. What prevented them from suffering a complete meltdown was Misbah-ul-Haq, who carried on his good form from the West Indies with his fourth consecutive fifty.

It was a mixed day for Zimbabwe in the field. A series of drops at the start showed that the team had hardly made any progress on that front since the India tour. Mohammad Hafeez was a beneficiary of one of those drops, when on 10. He went on to score 70, but the pace of his innings was crucial, with Misbah not deviating from his tried and tested conservative approach in the middle overs.

Hafeez found early momentum with three sixes off Prosper Utseya, down the ground, though he was lucky the second one wasn't pouched at the boundary's edge. Hafeez was strong through the off side, punishing the offspinners in particular. He picked 48 of his 70 runs off Utseya and Malcolm Waller, picking the large gaps square of the wicket on the off side.

Pakistan struggled to maintain a healthy run-rate following that wicket. Umar Amin was run-out trying to complete a second run. Afridi played a typical blink-and-you-missed-it cameo before edging a slog. Haris Sohail was caught brilliantly by Utseya, who plucked a one-handed blinder at short cover - a catch good enough to forget the sitters put down earlier by Zimbabwe.

Misbah's innings had a high percentage of singles - he had scored only two fours till the 46th over, and yet had managed a decent strike-rate of 81.69. Yet, he saved his big hitting only for the final over, mowing Tinashe Panyangara for massive blows over the on side to take Pakistan to 244. It was well short of stretching the hosts, who are a win away from sealing the series.

Kanishkaa Balachandran is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

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Shehzad, spinners sink Zimbabwe

Russell's sixes, Shakib's 6 for 6

ESPNcricinfo presents the top five moments from the inaugural Caribbean Premier League

Australia's era of decline

Fundamental issues remain with how the game is run in Australia, although the country's sporting problems are not restricted to cricket

Signs of development but much to do

Australia's Ashes performance wasn't far off what was expected: a wholehearted, often impressive, bowling attack but an inconsistent batting order, although there are signs of promise

Light fades on Oval party

It was a celebration of England. A celebration for Test cricket. It was loud. It was fun. It was nonsensical.

Swann's swag, and Smiths' success

Also, Bradman's nemesis, most runs in a Test without a century, hundreds in final ODIs, and double-oh partners

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Shehzad, spinners sink Zimbabwe

Pakistan 161 for 5 ( Shehzad 70, Afridi 23*) beat Zimbabwe 136 for 5 (Taylor 32*, Afridi 3-25) by 25 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Zimbabwe had their moments where they stretched Pakistan with a confident start in their chase of 162, but tackling the spinners in the middle overs was always going to be the bigger proposition. Pakistan's spin trio - led by Shahid Afridi - put the stranglehold on the scoring with regular wickets and the hosts found the target rapidly slipping away from them. Once the required rate neared an improbable 12, the final passage of play turned tepid.

In both innings, Pakistan found the going tough in the first half of the innings but clawed back in the second. Ahmed Shehzad weathered a sluggish start with a solid half-century that set the base for Shahid Afridi to play his natural game and push Pakistan to a competitive score. The Pakistan seamers struggled to contain the openers, but following a few quiet overs of spin, the momentum shifted. Brendan Taylor was looking to play himself into some form, after a poor series against India, and he didn't have the time or an attacking partner at the other end to help his side reclaim the edge.

After being put in to bat, Pakistan lost their first three wickets inside nine overs, all off questionable shots. Tendai Chatara accounted for the first two, and his second wicket to get rid of Mohammed Hafeez was made possible thanks to a brilliant reflex catch by Taylor. That catch was a good example of Zimbabwe's fielding in the early part of Pakistan's innings, but they couldn't put enough pressure on Pakistan in the second half.

Pakistan progressed to a less-than-satisfactory 57 for 3 after ten overs, but the turning point in the innings came in the 12th over. It was Elton Chigumbura's first and he leaked 17, which included a pulled six by the debutant Sohaib Maqsood and two swept boundaries by Shehzad past short fine leg. Pakistan ensured they maintained that momentum till the end of the innings, picking 75 runs off six beginning from the 12th.

Maqsood looked promising in a stand of 55 with Shehzad, pouncing on anything short from the seamers. After pulling Chigumbura over deep square leg, he tried to clear the straight boundary the following ball but was done in by an impressive running catch by Vusi Sibanda.

Shehzad's knock was vital in giving Pakistan a base to build on, which was crucial given the under par scores from the rest of the top order. He managed only one boundary in the first ten overs and began to open up in the company of the confident Maqsood. He was caught on the edge of the long-on boundary for 70, attempting a second six. Afridi, sent in at No.6, made a cameo 23 to give the bowlers a solid score to defend.

Sibanda and Hamilton Masakadza helped Zimbabwe race to 35 off five overs - at the same stage Pakistan had already lost two wickets. Taylor said at the toss that Zimbabwe were more comfortable chasing, and the openers certainly gave the impression. Sibanda didn't look too troubled by Mohammad Irfan's pace and lift, improvising by arching his back to steer the ball wide of the fielders on the off side.

Saeed Ajmal was brought on in the sixth over as damage control. Captain Hafeez reverted to his seamers and Anwar Ali struck in the first over of his second spell when he trapped Hamilton Masakadza lbw attempting to pull a ball that wasn't short enough. A set Sibanda lost his leg stump to Afridi, staying back to a flat, quicker delivery. Sean Williams was trapped lbw on the sweep, but didn't appear satisfied with the decision.

What Taylor needed was a form partner and the team management probably erred by not promoting Elton Chigumbura. Chigumbura performed better than some of the specialists in the one-dayers against India and when he walked in today Zimbabwe needed in excess of 17 an over. Timycen Maruma, who came in ahead of him, faced 13 balls for ten runs, at a time when Zimbabwe were desperate for a massive surge. The spinners held sway and the margin of victory was a comfortable 25 runs.

Kanishkaa Balachandran is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

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Masakadza sets up shock win for Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe 246 for 3 (Masakadza 85, Sibanda 54, Taylor 43*) beat Pakistan 244 for 7 (Misbah 83*, Hafeez 70) by 7 wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

The last time Zimbabwe beat Pakistan in any format was 15 years ago. Back then, Pakistan lost to arguably the most formidable Zimbabwe side in history - one that was capable of standing up to the best international sides. With the cricketing climate in the country having undergone a drastic change since then, any victory by current setup against a top side will be remembered for long. Coming off a disappointing T20 series, where Zimbabwe failed to figure out how to close out a chase, they held their composure and applied themselves better despite the short turnaround time.

A strong opening stand of 107 between Vusi Sibanda and Hamilton Masakadza was the bedrock in their chase of 245. Having dealt with the seamers with ease during the T20s, Zimbabwe's chances of victory hung on how they would perform outside their comfort zone. They looked ill at ease against the spin trio in the T20s but crucially, this time, they didn't let the spinners run away with the advantage. Saeed Ajmal managed to strike, but the long interval between breakthroughs meant that Pakistan were always playing catch-up. In the closing stages, Pakistan had created enough pressure to bring the equation down to a run-a-ball, but a combination of poor fielding and freakish luck meant that it was Zimbabwe's day.

Before this match, Masakadza spoke about the importance of his duty, as an opener, to set the base and not allow pressure to build on the lower order. Back at the top, a position he is comfortable with, and with an opening partner from school days, Masakadza took the initiative by hammering Junaid Khan for three boundaries in an over. The openers were strong through the off side against the left-armers and the boundary barrage prompted captain Misbah-ul-Haq to bring in spin from both ends from the eighth over.

The spinners managed to keep the runs down but wickets eluded them. Misbah used all five bowlers by the end of 12 overs and the breakthrough finally came in the 24th, when Sibanda stayed back to an Ajmal ball that spun back in. Masakadza reached his fifty the following over and continued to take on the spinners, sweeping Ajmal and reading Shahid Afridi's variations. He chipped down the track and lofted Afridi over extra cover for six in an over that produced 13. The frustration showed in Pakistan's fielding, when in that over, a drive back to the bowler which should have been stopped resulted in two runs.

Masakadza fell during the batting Powerplay, smashing Ajmal straight to cover. It was only temporary relief for Pakistan because by then Taylor was set, having already hit four boundaries. Pakistan didn't do themselves any favours in the field, though. A struggling Timycen Maruma tried to loft over long-on but Ahmed Shehzad was in two minds whether to catch or stop the ball and the ball bounced over his head for four. Taylor himself was let-off, on 37, when a reverse sweep went straight to point where Junaid dropped it.

Luck was firmly in Zimbabwe's favour. Maruma's wobbly knock suggested that Zimbabwe were starting to panic, but Sean Williams, aided by some good fortune, ensured his side held the edge with a spicy cameo. An inside edge off Junaid hit the base of the stumps but miraculously, didn't dislodge the bails. Worse still for Pakistan, it went for four. Williams sealed the win in style, smashing a six over midwicket to give Zimbabwe their first ODI win against a top team since October 2011.

Pakistan, winning the toss, found runs hard to come by at the start due to steady seam bowling, recovered in the middle thanks to Mohammad Hafeez's brisk half-century, and stumbled towards the end, failing to accelerate due to the pressure caused by the sudden fall of wickets. What prevented them from suffering a complete meltdown was Misbah-ul-Haq, who carried on his good form from the West Indies with his fourth consecutive fifty.

It was a mixed day for Zimbabwe in the field. A series of drops at the start showed that the team had hardly made any progress on that front since the India tour. Mohammad Hafeez was a beneficiary of one of those drops, when on 10. He went on to score 70, but the pace of his innings was crucial, with Misbah not deviating from his tried and tested conservative approach in the middle overs.

Hafeez found early momentum with three sixes off Prosper Utseya, down the ground, though he was lucky the second one wasn't pouched at the boundary's edge. Hafeez was strong through the off side, punishing the offspinners in particular. He picked 48 of his 70 runs off Utseya and Malcolm Waller, picking the large gaps square of the wicket on the off side.

Pakistan struggled to maintain a healthy run-rate following that wicket. Umar Amin was run-out trying to complete a second run. Afridi played a typical blink-and-you-missed-it cameo before edging a slog. Haris Sohail was caught brilliantly by Utseya, who plucked a one-handed blinder at short cover - a catch good enough to forget the sitters put down earlier by Zimbabwe.

Misbah's innings had a high percentage of singles - he had scored only two fours till the 46th over, and yet had managed a decent strike-rate of 81.69. Yet, he saved his big hitting only for the final over, mowing Tinashe Panyangara for massive blows over the on side to take Pakistan to 244. It was well short of stretching the hosts, who are a win away from sealing the series.

Kanishkaa Balachandran is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

Feeds: Kanishkaa Balachandran © ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

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Zimbabwe bring focus back to cricket

Match facts

Friday, August 23, 2013
Start time 1330 local (1130 GMT) Big Picture

In a relatively quiet month for international cricket, save for the ongoing marquee Test series in England, Zimbabwe and Pakistan have managed to shoehorn a series to fill a gap in the calendar. Shortly after the series was confirmed came the off-field distraction involving the Zimbabwe players and the cricket board. A familiar pay dispute led to fears over whether the tour would get under way but, thankfully, the players made peace with the board with the formation of a players union. The dispute, however, disrupted the hosts' practice schedules and though they have since resumed training, it remains to be seen if it has been sufficient. This is in contrast to the preparations ahead of the recent home series against India. The players trained for ten weeks, but it wasn't enough to stretch an experimental Indian side. The batting was the biggest let down, followed by the fielding. The result was a 5-0 thrashing. It will only get tougher against Pakistan, who're playing full strength despite the low-profile nature of the tour.

Prosper Utseya, the offspinner, has insisted that the players are in the right frame of mind. "We have managed to put that [contractual issue] behind now and some of the players have been offered contracts," Utseya told the Zimbabwe Herald. "Obviously I am not sure what they've got, but they looked happy. It is good that ZC have managed to meet us halfway going into the series."

Series wins in the West Indies have given Pakistan confidence after the gloom of the Champions Trophy. The performances of the youngsters in the two T20s in the West Indies, including Umar Amin and Zulfiqar Babar, should have pleased them immensely. A few players have been busy in the Caribbean Premier League, though, among them, only Mohammad Hafeez features in the upcoming T20s. The rest of the squad have been training in Lahore.

Form guide

Pakistan WWWLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Zimbabwe LWLLL Players to watch

Sikandar Raza is likely to play his first game against the country of his birth, but that alone shouldn't be the only talking point about him. Raza's 82 against India was the highest individual score by a Zimbabwe batsman in the series and though his form fell away in the remaining games, it marked him down as a player to watch. What Raza needs is consistent scores to keep his place in the XI. Zulfiqar Babar had to wait till he was 34 to get his first opportunity for Pakistan. The left-arm spinner was picked in the T20 squad for the West Indies and had a dream debut, taking 3 for 23, but his job didn't end there. Batting at No. 8, Babar had the honour of facing the final ball of the match with one needed to win. He finished the game with a swagger, hitting a six. He ended the two-match series with five wickets and the expectations off him would have increased.

Team news

Zimbabwe trimmed their practice squad to 15 on the eve of the series. There were no surprises in the squad.* Zimbabwe (possible): 1 Vusi Sibanda, 2 Hamilton Masakadza, 3 Sikandar Raza, 4 Brendan Taylor (capt & wk), 5 Malcolm Waller, 6 Sean Williams, 7 Shingi Masakadza, 8 Prosper Utseya, 9 Natsai M'shangwe, 10 Brian Vitori, 11 Tinashe Panyangara

Pakistan are without Umar Akmal for the series, after he was withdrawn after suffering a seizure while flying in the West Indies. Sarfraz Ahmed was named the replacement wicketkeeper.

Pakistan (likely): 1 Nasir Jamshed, 2 Mohammad Hafeez (capt), 3 Ahmed Shehzad, 4 Umar Amin, 5 Haris Sohail, 6 Shahid Afridi, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Sohail Tanvir, 9 Zulfiqar Babar, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Asad Ali

Stats and trivia

In the last bilateral series between these sides in Zimbabwe, in 2011, Pakistan won both T20s Shahid Afridi needs 84 more for 1000 T20 runs. Mohammad Hafeez is the only Pakistan batsman to pass that milestone. Umar Akmal is second with 929. Quotes

"Their batsmen are prone to cracking under pressure and that is what we will have to do if we are to get the better of them. We really need to put them under pressure and play smart cricket."
Zimbabwe's Prosper Utseya * - 15.30 GMT, August 22, 2013 - Story updated following Zimbabwe's squad announcement

Kanishkaa Balachandran is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

Feeds: Kanishkaa Balachandran © ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

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Zimbabwe need to inspire in dark times

Match facts

Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Start time 0930 local (0730 GMT) Big Picture

What must a young, upcoming cricketer in Zimbabwe feel right now? He would be told he has to follow in the footsteps of the Flowers and the Streaks. What he sees are the Ervines and the Ballances, who choose to play cricket in another country. He would be told he has to derive inspiration from the exploits of the Zimbabwe side of the 90s. What he sees is a national team struggling to come up with even a single performance that would inspire him. He wants to believe his life can be all about cricket, only cricket. All around him, there are signs that show such a belief is just not sustainable in practice, at least in Zimbabwe. He hears seniors talk about how difficult it is to provide for their families, he sees the national side threaten to stop playing till they are promised better wages. Two days after the board promises, he sees one of his heroes, fast bowler Kyle Jarvis, all of 24, quit international cricket so that he can play the game for counties and franchises and make some money while his body lasts. He spots a chilling sentence in Jarvis' media statement that thoroughly shakes him up, beliefs and all. "I informed my team-mates yesterday that I would be leaving and they were supportive and fully understood why I was doing this." Half-prepared to give up the game, he looks around for some hope, some sign that everything is not lost for Zimbabwe cricket, where those who choose to stay on support those who choose to leave.

And then Brendan Taylor and his men go down without a fight to Pakistan in the format in which they were supposed to have the best chance of causing an upset. Zimbabwe lost both Twenty20 internationals by considerable margins, their batsmen falling to the Pakistan spinners, who took a combined 4 for 67 and 5 for 75 in the two matches. If they couldn't compete with Pakistan for 40 overs, what chance do they stand over 100 overs?

If they couldn't stop Jarvis from leaving, what chance do they have of preventing others who give up on the country in the future? If this continues to happen, what chance more and more young, upcoming players won't quit either Zimbabwe or cricket much earlier than Jarvis did?

No money from the board, no fight from the players, no inspiration for the followers. Money won't come around for a while, but that should not stop Taylor and his men from putting up a fight. Especially in these dark times, that is the bare minimum the followers of Zimbabwe cricket deserve. We can all do with some inspiration.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan WWTLW
Zimbabwe LLLLL Players to watch

As if all the responsibility of being Zimbabwe's leading batsman and captain wasn't enough, Brendan Taylor also dearly needs to rouse his side at this juncture, with both words as a leader and deeds with the bat. That this hasn't been a productive season for him won't help, but form as a constraint fades before the enormity of the task in front of him. Nasir Jamshed was dropped from the Test side for this tour after just two games against a tough opponent like South Africa. He's spoken about how disappointed he felt, and how he plans to make a come back with good limited-overs performances. He could not do much in the T20s, now comes the format in which he's impressed the most.

Team news

Captain Misbah-ul-Haq, Abdur Rehman and Asad Shafiq are the additions to the Pakistan squad for the ODIs in place of Sohail Tanvir, Zulfiqar Babar and Sohaib Maqsood, although there was a case for keeping the inexperienced batsman Maqsood around the team for the ODI leg.

Pakistan (possible) 1 Nasir Jamshed, 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 5 Asad Shafiq/Umar Amin, 6 Shahid Afridi, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Saeed Ajmal, 9 Asad Ali/Abdur Rehman, 10 Junaid Khan, 11 Mohammad Irfan

In another unfortunate reminder of how things are, Zimbabwe announced their 18-member ODI squad late on the eve of the first ODI, but it remains to be seen what XI features for the game.

Zimbabwe (possible): 1 Vusi Sibanda, 2 Hamilton Masakadza, 3 Sikandar Raza, 4 Brendan Taylor (capt & wk), 5 Malcolm Waller, 6 Sean Williams, 7 Timcyen Maruma, 8 Shingi Masakadza, 9 Prosper Utseya, 10 Brian Vitori, 11 Tinashe Panyangara

Stats and trivia

Pakistan have won 12 of the 15 ODIs they have played in Zimbabwe against the hosts. Zimbabwe were able to win one and tie another, but both those matches were back in 1995 Shahid Afridi has played 354 ODIs for Pakistan, and needs three games to overtake Wasim Akram. Only Inzamam-ul-Haq is in front after that, with 375 matches for his country Abhishek Purohit is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

Feeds: Abhishek Purohit © ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

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Zimbabwe chase history amid gloom

Match facts

Thursday, August 29, 2013
Start time 0930 local (0730 GMT) Big Picture

Zimbabwe's shock win in the first ODI was their first against Pakistan in 15 years, but now the beleaguered team has a chance to go one better - a win in one of the remaining two matches will give Zimbabwe their first bilateral series win since beating New Zealand 2-1, 12 years ago. The win on Tuesday gave Zimbabwe a chance to celebrate amid the gloom; a series win would inject some much-needed faith.

Zimbabwe coach Andy Waller said the success was the fruit of two months of hard work, during which the team has attempted to fine-tune its game plan of the top order making sure they lay the platform for the stroke-makers in the middle order. The manner in which the top three handled the chase in the first part exemplified the team's methods and Zimbabwe will pin their hopes on the three to do the same at least one more time.

The batting plan has seemed to work in the last few matches and the bowling has been steady for the conditions, but Zimbabwe need to focus some attention on the fielding. Once one of the best fielding sides, Zimbabwe's fielding has withered away. Had they taken all the chances that came their way on Tuesday, they could have restricted Pakistan to an even lower score. Waller said that one of his goals is to take Zimbabwe's fielding to the level it used to be in the '90s and the team is working hard towards it, but poor performances during the matches pull the team back.

The fielding didn't hurt Zimbabwe on Tuesday as Pakistan made a few errors of their own. Apart from losing the tempo during their batting and the sloppy fielding towards the end of the match, Pakistan misread the pitch and batted first on a surface that Masakadza later said "gets better in the afternoon". They are armed with the knowledge now and Zimbabwe expect Pakistan to come back harder at them. But Pakistan can be the most beatable of the top sides and unbeatable on the same day. They are the Harvey Dent of cricket: which side turns up on a day seems to be a result of an imaginary coin toss.

In the spotlight

Zimbabwe's openers, Hamilton Masakadza and Vusi Sibanda, have been batting together since their school days and that familiarity with each other helped them focus during their century partnership on Tuesday. Masakadza later said that they talked about how their stand was going to be critical for the team's chances in the chase. The two negated Pakistan's bowlers with ease and that opening stand will again be crucial to Zimbabwe's chances. It wasn't long ago that Shahid Afridi, on his comeback trail, ripped through West Indies with bat and ball. Since that explosive performance, Afridi has gone into a shell. He hardly caused a flutter with the bat in the first ODI when the team needed some late push, while his bowling lacked zip and he was taken for easy runs. Pakistan would hope the allrounder doesn't wait to fire till his place in the side is in doubt again.

Team news

Pakistan's bowling lacked incisiveness on a pitch that flattened out later in the day, so they could consider bringing in Abdur Rehman in place of a batsman.

Pakistan (possible) 1 Nasir Jamshed, 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 5 Umar Amin, 6 Shahid Afridi, 7 Haris Sohail/Abdur Rehman, 8 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 9 Saeed Ajmal, 10 Junaid Khan, 11 Mohammad Irfan

Zimbabwe are unlikely to disturb the team combination that won them a historic match.

Zimbabwe (possible): 1 Vusi Sibanda, 2 Hamilton Masakadza, 3 Brendan Taylor (capt & wk), 4 Timycen Maruma , 5 Malcolm Waller, 6 Sean Williams, 7 Elton Chigumbura, 8 Tendai Chatara, 9 Prosper Utseya, 10 Brian Vitori, 11 Tinashe Panyangara

Stats and trivia

Eleven times in the last 10 years, Zimbabwe openers have registered century stands. Eight of those have involved either Hamilton Masakadza or Vusi Sibanda. If Shahid Afridi's epic show against West Indies is taken out, he has 163 runs and three wickets from 10 matches this year. Devashish Fuloria is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

Feeds: Devashish Fuloria © ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

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Shehzad, spinners sink Zimbabwe

Pakistan 161 for 5 ( Shehzad 70, Afridi 23*) beat Zimbabwe 136 for 5 (Taylor 32*, Afridi 3-25) by 25 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Zimbabwe had their moments where they stretched Pakistan with a confident start in their chase of 162, but tackling the spinners in the middle overs was always going to be the bigger proposition. Pakistan's spin trio - led by Shahid Afridi - put the stranglehold on the scoring with regular wickets and the hosts found the target rapidly slipping away from them. Once the required rate neared an improbable 12, the final passage of play turned tepid.

In both innings, Pakistan found the going tough in the first half of the innings but clawed back in the second. Ahmed Shehzad weathered a sluggish start with a solid half-century that set the base for Shahid Afridi to play his natural game and push Pakistan to a competitive score. The Pakistan seamers struggled to contain the openers, but following a few quiet overs of spin, the momentum shifted. Brendan Taylor was looking to play himself into some form, after a poor series against India, and he didn't have the time or an attacking partner at the other end to help his side reclaim the edge.

After being put in to bat, Pakistan lost their first three wickets inside nine overs, all off questionable shots. Tendai Chatara accounted for the first two, and his second wicket to get rid of Mohammed Hafeez was made possible thanks to a brilliant reflex catch by Taylor. That catch was a good example of Zimbabwe's fielding in the early part of Pakistan's innings, but they couldn't put enough pressure on Pakistan in the second half.

Pakistan progressed to a less-than-satisfactory 57 for 3 after ten overs, but the turning point in the innings came in the 12th over. It was Elton Chigumbura's first and he leaked 17, which included a pulled six by the debutant Sohaib Maqsood and two swept boundaries by Shehzad past short fine leg. Pakistan ensured they maintained that momentum till the end of the innings, picking 75 runs off six beginning from the 12th.

Maqsood looked promising in a stand of 55 with Shehzad, pouncing on anything short from the seamers. After pulling Chigumbura over deep square leg, he tried to clear the straight boundary the following ball but was done in by an impressive running catch by Vusi Sibanda.

Shehzad's knock was vital in giving Pakistan a base to build on, which was crucial given the under par scores from the rest of the top order. He managed only one boundary in the first ten overs and began to open up in the company of the confident Maqsood. He was caught on the edge of the long-on boundary for 70, attempting a second six. Afridi, sent in at No.6, made a cameo 23 to give the bowlers a solid score to defend.

Sibanda and Hamilton Masakadza helped Zimbabwe race to 35 off five overs - at the same stage Pakistan had already lost two wickets. Taylor said at the toss that Zimbabwe were more comfortable chasing, and the openers certainly gave the impression. Sibanda didn't look too troubled by Mohammad Irfan's pace and lift, improvising by arching his back to steer the ball wide of the fielders on the off side.

Saeed Ajmal was brought on in the sixth over as damage control. Captain Hafeez reverted to his seamers and Anwar Ali struck in the first over of his second spell when he trapped Hamilton Masakadza lbw attempting to pull a ball that wasn't short enough. A set Sibanda lost his leg stump to Afridi, staying back to a flat, quicker delivery. Sean Williams was trapped lbw on the sweep, but didn't appear satisfied with the decision.

What Taylor needed was a form partner and the team management probably erred by not promoting Elton Chigumbura. Chigumbura performed better than some of the specialists in the one-dayers against India and when he walked in today Zimbabwe needed in excess of 17 an over. Timycen Maruma, who came in ahead of him, faced 13 balls for ten runs, at a time when Zimbabwe were desperate for a massive surge. The spinners held sway and the margin of victory was a comfortable 25 runs.

Kanishkaa Balachandran is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

Feeds: Kanishkaa Balachandran © ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

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Umar Akmal to miss Zimbabwe ODIs, T20s

Russell's sixes, Shakib's 6 for 6

ESPNcricinfo presents the top five moments from the inaugural Caribbean Premier League

Australia's era of decline

Fundamental issues remain with how the game is run in Australia, although the country's sporting problems are not restricted to cricket

Foreign flavour in Caribbean fest

For an inaugural season, the Caribbean Premier League has managed to pull in some of the biggest names in cricket and their impact on the league has been impressive

When Atherton's men broke the hoodoo

The Ashes were long gone and England were in disarray, but a young captain and a greenhorn bowling trio produced a victory to remember

Light fades on Oval party

It was a celebration of England. A celebration for Test cricket. It was loud. It was fun. It was nonsensical.

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Zimbabwe need to inspire in dark times

Match facts

Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Start time 0930 local (0730 GMT) Big Picture

What must a young, upcoming cricketer in Zimbabwe feel right now? He would be told he has to follow in the footsteps of the Flowers and the Streaks. What he sees are the Ervines and the Ballances, who choose to play cricket in another country. He would be told he has to derive inspiration from the exploits of the Zimbabwe side of the 90s. What he sees is a national team struggling to come up with even a single performance that would inspire him. He wants to believe his life can be all about cricket, only cricket. All around him, there are signs that show such a belief is just not sustainable in practice, at least in Zimbabwe. He hears seniors talk about how difficult it is to provide for their families, he sees the national side threaten to stop playing till they are promised better wages. Two days after the board promises, he sees one of his heroes, fast bowler Kyle Jarvis, all of 24, quit international cricket so that he can play the game for counties and franchises and make some money while his body lasts. He spots a chilling sentence in Jarvis' media statement that thoroughly shakes him up, beliefs and all. "I informed my team-mates yesterday that I would be leaving and they were supportive and fully understood why I was doing this." Half-prepared to give up the game, he looks around for some hope, some sign that everything is not lost for Zimbabwe cricket, where those who choose to stay on support those who choose to leave.

And then Brendan Taylor and his men go down without a fight to Pakistan in the format in which they were supposed to have the best chance of causing an upset. Zimbabwe lost both Twenty20 internationals by considerable margins, their batsmen falling to the Pakistan spinners, who took a combined 4 for 67 and 5 for 75 in the two matches. If they couldn't compete with Pakistan for 40 overs, what chance do they stand over 100 overs?

If they couldn't stop Jarvis from leaving, what chance do they have of preventing others who give up on the country in the future? If this continues to happen, what chance more and more young, upcoming players won't quit either Zimbabwe or cricket much earlier than Jarvis did?

No money from the board, no fight from the players, no inspiration for the followers. Money won't come around for a while, but that should not stop Taylor and his men from putting up a fight. Especially in these dark times, that is the bare minimum the followers of Zimbabwe cricket deserve. We can all do with some inspiration.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan WWTLW
Zimbabwe LLLLL Players to watch

As if all the responsibility of being Zimbabwe's leading batsman and captain wasn't enough, Brendan Taylor also dearly needs to rouse his side at this juncture, with both words as a leader and deeds with the bat. That this hasn't been a productive season for him won't help, but form as a constraint fades before the enormity of the task in front of him. Nasir Jamshed was dropped from the Test side for this tour after just two games against a tough opponent like South Africa. He's spoken about how disappointed he felt, and how he plans to make a come back with good limited-overs performances. He could not do much in the T20s, now comes the format in which he's impressed the most.

Team news

Captain Misbah-ul-Haq, Abdur Rehman and Asad Shafiq are the additions to the Pakistan squad for the ODIs in place of Sohail Tanvir, Zulfiqar Babar and Sohaib Maqsood, although there was a case for keeping the inexperienced batsman Maqsood around the team for the ODI leg.

Pakistan (possible) 1 Nasir Jamshed, 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 5 Asad Shafiq/Umar Amin, 6 Shahid Afridi, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Saeed Ajmal, 9 Asad Ali/Abdur Rehman, 10 Junaid Khan, 11 Mohammad Irfan

In another unfortunate reminder of how things are, Zimbabwe announced their 18-member ODI squad late on the eve of the first ODI, but it remains to be seen what XI features for the game.

Zimbabwe (possible): 1 Vusi Sibanda, 2 Hamilton Masakadza, 3 Sikandar Raza, 4 Brendan Taylor (capt & wk), 5 Malcolm Waller, 6 Sean Williams, 7 Timcyen Maruma, 8 Shingi Masakadza, 9 Prosper Utseya, 10 Brian Vitori, 11 Tinashe Panyangara

Stats and trivia

Pakistan have won 12 of the 15 ODIs they have played in Zimbabwe against the hosts. Zimbabwe were able to win one and tie another, but both those matches were back in 1995 Shahid Afridi has played 354 ODIs for Pakistan, and needs three games to overtake Wasim Akram. Only Inzamam-ul-Haq is in front after that, with 375 matches for his country Abhishek Purohit is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

Feeds: Abhishek Purohit © ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

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Zimbabwe bring focus back to cricket

Match facts

Friday, August 23, 2013
Start time 1330 local (1130 GMT) Big Picture

In a relatively quiet month for international cricket, save for the ongoing marquee Test series in England, Zimbabwe and Pakistan have managed to shoehorn a series to fill a gap in the calendar. Shortly after the series was confirmed came the off-field distraction involving the Zimbabwe players and the cricket board. A familiar pay dispute led to fears over whether the tour would get under way but, thankfully, the players made peace with the board with the formation of a players union. The dispute, however, disrupted the hosts' practice schedules and though they have since resumed training, it remains to be seen if it has been sufficient. This is in contrast to the preparations ahead of the recent home series against India. The players trained for ten weeks, but it wasn't enough to stretch an experimental Indian side. The batting was the biggest let down, followed by the fielding. The result was a 5-0 thrashing. It will only get tougher against Pakistan, who're playing full strength despite the low-profile nature of the tour.

Prosper Utseya, the offspinner, has insisted that the players are in the right frame of mind. "We have managed to put that [contractual issue] behind now and some of the players have been offered contracts," Utseya told the Zimbabwe Herald. "Obviously I am not sure what they've got, but they looked happy. It is good that ZC have managed to meet us halfway going into the series."

Series wins in the West Indies have given Pakistan confidence after the gloom of the Champions Trophy. The performances of the youngsters in the two T20s in the West Indies, including Umar Amin and Zulfiqar Babar, should have pleased them immensely. A few players have been busy in the Caribbean Premier League, though, among them, only Mohammad Hafeez features in the upcoming T20s. The rest of the squad have been training in Lahore.

Form guide

Pakistan WWWLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Zimbabwe LWLLL Players to watch

Sikandar Raza is likely to play his first game against the country of his birth, but that alone shouldn't be the only talking point about him. Raza's 82 against India was the highest individual score by a Zimbabwe batsman in the series and though his form fell away in the remaining games, it marked him down as a player to watch. What Raza needs is consistent scores to keep his place in the XI. Zulfiqar Babar had to wait till he was 34 to get his first opportunity for Pakistan. The left-arm spinner was picked in the T20 squad for the West Indies and had a dream debut, taking 3 for 23, but his job didn't end there. Batting at No. 8, Babar had the honour of facing the final ball of the match with one needed to win. He finished the game with a swagger, hitting a six. He ended the two-match series with five wickets and the expectations off him would have increased.

Team news

Zimbabwe trimmed their practice squad to 15 on the eve of the series. There were no surprises in the squad.* Zimbabwe (possible): 1 Vusi Sibanda, 2 Hamilton Masakadza, 3 Sikandar Raza, 4 Brendan Taylor (capt & wk), 5 Malcolm Waller, 6 Sean Williams, 7 Shingi Masakadza, 8 Prosper Utseya, 9 Natsai M'shangwe, 10 Brian Vitori, 11 Tinashe Panyangara

Pakistan are without Umar Akmal for the series, after he was withdrawn after suffering a seizure while flying in the West Indies. Sarfraz Ahmed was named the replacement wicketkeeper.

Pakistan (likely): 1 Nasir Jamshed, 2 Mohammad Hafeez (capt), 3 Ahmed Shehzad, 4 Umar Amin, 5 Haris Sohail, 6 Shahid Afridi, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Sohail Tanvir, 9 Zulfiqar Babar, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Asad Ali

Stats and trivia

In the last bilateral series between these sides in Zimbabwe, in 2011, Pakistan won both T20s Shahid Afridi needs 84 more for 1000 T20 runs. Mohammad Hafeez is the only Pakistan batsman to pass that milestone. Umar Akmal is second with 929. Quotes

"Their batsmen are prone to cracking under pressure and that is what we will have to do if we are to get the better of them. We really need to put them under pressure and play smart cricket."
Zimbabwe's Prosper Utseya * - 15.30 GMT, August 22, 2013 - Story updated following Zimbabwe's squad announcement

Kanishkaa Balachandran is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

Feeds: Kanishkaa Balachandran © ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

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Shehzad, spinners sink Zimbabwe

Pakistan 161 for 5 ( Shehzad 70, Afridi 23*) beat Zimbabwe 136 for 5 (Taylor 32*, Afridi 3-25) by 25 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Zimbabwe had their moments where they stretched Pakistan with a confident start in their chase of 162, but tackling the spinners in the middle overs was always going to be the bigger proposition. Pakistan's spin trio - led by Shahid Afridi - put the stranglehold on the scoring with regular wickets and the hosts found the target rapidly slipping away from them. Once the required rate neared an improbable 12, the final passage of play turned tepid.

In both innings, Pakistan found the going tough in the first half of the innings but clawed back in the second. Ahmed Shehzad weathered a sluggish start with a solid half-century that set the base for Shahid Afridi to play his natural game and push Pakistan to a competitive score. The Pakistan seamers struggled to contain the openers, but following a few quiet overs of spin, the momentum shifted. Brendan Taylor was looking to play himself into some form, after a poor series against India, and he didn't have the time or an attacking partner at the other end to help his side reclaim the edge.

After being put in to bat, Pakistan lost their first three wickets inside nine overs, all off questionable shots. Tendai Chatara accounted for the first two, and his second wicket to get rid of Mohammed Hafeez was made possible thanks to a brilliant reflex catch by Taylor. That catch was a good example of Zimbabwe's fielding in the early part of Pakistan's innings, but they couldn't put enough pressure on Pakistan in the second half.

Pakistan progressed to a less-than-satisfactory 57 for 3 after ten overs, but the turning point in the innings came in the 12th over. It was Elton Chigumbura's first and he leaked 17, which included a pulled six by the debutant Sohaib Maqsood and two swept boundaries by Shehzad past short fine leg. Pakistan ensured they maintained that momentum till the end of the innings, picking 75 runs off six beginning from the 12th.

Maqsood looked promising in a stand of 55 with Shehzad, pouncing on anything short from the seamers. After pulling Chigumbura over deep square leg, he tried to clear the straight boundary the following ball but was done in by an impressive running catch by Vusi Sibanda.

Shehzad's knock was vital in giving Pakistan a base to build on, which was crucial given the under par scores from the rest of the top order. He managed only one boundary in the first ten overs and began to open up in the company of the confident Maqsood. He was caught on the edge of the long-on boundary for 70, attempting a second six. Afridi, sent in at No.6, made a cameo 23 to give the bowlers a solid score to defend.

Sibanda and Hamilton Masakadza helped Zimbabwe race to 35 off five overs - at the same stage Pakistan had already lost two wickets. Taylor said at the toss that Zimbabwe were more comfortable chasing, and the openers certainly gave the impression. Sibanda didn't look too troubled by Mohammad Irfan's pace and lift, improvising by arching his back to steer the ball wide of the fielders on the off side.

Saeed Ajmal was brought on in the sixth over as damage control. Captain Hafeez reverted to his seamers and Anwar Ali struck in the first over of his second spell when he trapped Hamilton Masakadza lbw attempting to pull a ball that wasn't short enough. A set Sibanda lost his leg stump to Afridi, staying back to a flat, quicker delivery. Sean Williams was trapped lbw on the sweep, but didn't appear satisfied with the decision.

What Taylor needed was a form partner and the team management probably erred by not promoting Elton Chigumbura. Chigumbura performed better than some of the specialists in the one-dayers against India and when he walked in today Zimbabwe needed in excess of 17 an over. Timycen Maruma, who came in ahead of him, faced 13 balls for ten runs, at a time when Zimbabwe were desperate for a massive surge. The spinners held sway and the margin of victory was a comfortable 25 runs.

Kanishkaa Balachandran is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

Feeds: Kanishkaa Balachandran © ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

View the original article here