[Match Thread] Zimbabwe v Pakistan (Only Test)

[maehara]

Kepler Wessel's pitch report pointing out that the surface has started to break up, in an area that could be useful for the seamers - Streaky had been out with the boys pointing it out to them earlier.

Pakistan last night seemed to be in a bit of a hurry, which they'd need to be if they want to win this match - if they carry that on, they'll eventually make mistakes. We need to take advantage of them when they come. As opposed to dropping Hafeez at slip. I'm hopeful, though...

[brmtaylor.com admin]

Mpofu just dropped Hafeez

[takleg]

Catches win matches Chris Mpofu! What was that all about?

[brmtaylor.com admin]

A maiden from Mpofu, that's more like it. We need to restrict their scoring; they appear, especially Hafeez, to be the sort of players that will play a big shot if they get bogged down.

[maehara]

My 'live' stream is a full 2 overs behind the Cricinfo commentary. That gets real confusing, real quick...
Anyone got a high-quality stream today? The ones on Hitcric aren't...

EDIT: Got one, now that SL v Aus is over...

[brmtaylor.com admin]

Thank God for that wicket!
Pakistan are still in a very good position, but at least we got that breakthrough and have the opportunity to reset after lunch. Hopefully Jarvis and Vitori can cause some problems for Younis Khan.

[takleg]

I'm glad we got wicket, finally. The job is still far from done and even if we grab a couple of wickets after lunch we'll have to be very disciplined to not only keep things tight, but also to continue applying pressure.

[foreignfield]

Another reminder to our guys that shutting up shot for lunch (or the close as was the case against Bangladesh) leads to self destruction. But full credit to Hamilton and Price for keeping it tight when the team desperately needed it. On this pitch and in this match situation frustrating the Pakistani batsmen is the only way forward (that does not mean we should not attack the new batsman straight after lunch though).

[maehara]

For those who pay attention to rankings: Although we're not ranked on the Test table, we do still have a rating and this match will affect it. We're currently on 68 - if I've done the sums right (so allow a small margin of error)...

Pakistan win = down to 58.
Draw = up to 78 (same as New Zealand).
Zimbabwe win = up to 105 (between Australia and Sri Lanka).

Makes me start wondering what the cut-off date for the Test Championship finals is...

[takleg]

hmmm...interestinghmmm...interesting