Zimbabwe strike thrice before lunch but Abid Ali steers Pakistan

Abid Ali looked as assured as he did on the first day

Lunch Pakistan 353 for 7 (Abid 151*, Nauman 7*, Muzarabani 3-53) vs Zimbabwe

Both sides claimed a share of the spoils by lunch on the second day, with Abid Ali ensuring Pakistan’s first innings total begins to push past what Zimbabwe might be capable of matching. The hosts, meanwhile, kept their hopes of restricting Pakistan below 400 alive with wickets at regular intervals, and were just three away from wrapping up the innings when the first session ended. Abid brought up 150 in that time, looking as assured as he did the previous day, with Pakistan picking up the scoring rate compared to the relative stodginess of the first day.

Pakistan’s nightwatchman Sajid Khan frustrated Zimbabwe for the first hour, but saw his stay come to an end thanks to a splendid diving catch from Regis Chakabva, whose wicketkeeping has been under scrutiny at times this tour. Donald Tiripano banged one in short Sajid got a thick edge to, with a wrong-footed Chakabva leaping far to his right to snare it with one hand. Sajid had scored a useful 20 by this point, with the 300 brought up for Pakistan.

Mohammad Rizwan combined for an equally handy partnership with the ever-present Abid, speeding things up as he did. There were a few whipped boundaries through the off side and the pair might have carried through to lunch, before Rizwan tried to target Tendai Chisoro over mid-on. A horrible miscue found only mid-on, and tailender Hasan Ali nicked off to Luke Jongwe the following over.

A casual whack over long-on from Nauman Ali perhaps foreshadowed what Zimbabwe can expect from Pakistan in the middle session. With not much batting to follow, Abid, too, might look to force the issue in a way he hasn’t quite felt the need to for these first four sessions.