Day 1 Stumps: Pakistan 103 for 0 (Abid 56*, Imran 43*) trail Zimbabwe 176 (Kaia 48, Afridi 4-43, Hasan 4-53) by 83 runs
BY KEVIN MAPASURE
THE Zimbabwe national cricket team endured a tough opening day of their first Test against touring Pakistan after they were bowled out for 176 in two sessions at Harare Sports Club yesterday, ending the day with a 73 run deficit.
Shaheen Afridi (4 for 43) and Hasan Ali (4 for 53) were the chief destroyers with the ball for Pakistan.
But in truth it was a case of self destruction on the part of the Zimbabwean batsmen.
Pakistan consolidated their control of the match after ending the day on 103 without loss, 73 runs behind at stumps.
Imran Butt was on 46 while Abid Ali (56 not out) had celebrated his half century.
One of the main highlights was Zimbabwean umpire Langton Rusere making history by becoming the first black African to stand in a Test match.
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Richard Ngarava, Roy Kaia and Milton Shumba all received their first caps for Zimbabwe, while Sajid Khan was playing his first Test for the tourists.
Zimbabwe made a disastrous start after Brendan Taylor had won the toss.
They found themselves four wickets down by the time umpires called lunch.
By lunch, Zimbabwe had lost Kevin Kasuza (0), Prince Masvaure (11), Tari Musakanda (14) and Taylor (5) and were reeling, having put just 59 runs on the board and having faced 27 overs.
It was a depleted batting line up that missed the injured trio of captain Sean Williams, Craig Ervine and Sikandar Raja, but they were still expected to do better.
Shumba and Kaia put up a 59 run fifth wicket stand to help repair Zimbabwe’s innings.
Shumba enjoyed three lives after he was dropped twice in the slips and after enjoying such fortune he gave away his wicket after he was run out on 27 runs.
Kaia (48) followed him to the hut after he was set up before he was yorked, two runs short of a half ton in debut.
His innings featured seven boundaries and even though he suffered the heartbreak, he would have built confidence from his 94 ball knock.
Donald Tiripano had the second highest score with 28 and there was little else with Regis Chakabva (19), Tendai Chisoro (8) Blessing Muzarabani (12) and Richard Ngarava (1).
After struggling to take advantage of a good batting wicket, the bowlers also found the going tough as they went wicketless after a full session.
At close of play, Muzarabani had bowled nine overs at the expense of 20 runs, while Ngarava had conceded 32 from the same number of overs.
Follow Kevin on Twitter @kmapasure
