[Match Thread] Zimbabwe v Pakistan (Only Test)

[andybligz93]

its a shame bout the collapse and would have been nice to only be 3 or 4 wcikets down at this stage , but if zim can put another 80 plus on you just never know if we were to bowl anyone out for under 150 it would be pakistan. if we lose there will still so many positives from mawoyos maiden unbeaten 160 , taibus consistency , ervine making a good score , greg lambs all round performance and ray prices effort with the bball i cannot believe people are complaining about him not getting enough wickets its a freaking batsmans paradise ! some people just dont know anyhting about cricket. jarvis has shown a lot of heart with the bat and has impressed me , i thought he actually bowled well and he is only going to get better for us , if he can improve his batting to a consistent rate then zims the winner. disapointed with vitoris performance , mind you the guy had to go wicketless one day. im overall not to worried bout the performance of the boys but you are never out of the game against pakistan .

[Flower power]

I am thinking that Queens Sports Club is a good pitch to blood our young team ,for tougher assignments especially in the sub continent , were pitches will be more or less than the one we are seeing now . At least for the future we will have toughened up .

[jimbo]

No gallant finish with Zimbabwe this innings just a meek surrender, Taibu playing away from his body and Mpoffu not playing with a straight bat

[Flower power]

If we had just put up an extra 50 runs . Thanks Price for the fight you deserved more wickets .

[jimbo]

I think Zimbabwe did quite well considering, I will explain why below

1) Mawoyo and Taibu were the only players in either zimbabwe Innings to go past 50. To get to the 5th day with that record is very good, The most telling part for me is sibanda,Ervine.Lamb, Taibu ( first innings) all got starts but could not go on. I think this is the biggest tragedy more so than the collapse in the second innings and the dropped catches. A big one from Sibanda or ervine in first innings would have meant Zim crept past 500 and eroded more game time, Zim could well have drawn or even won the match

2) Nobody bar Taibu picked Ajmals doosra, mawoyos innings was one of bloody mindness more than anything and it worked

3) After our 2005 Humiliations at the hands of south africa, New zealand inside 2 days we have progressed beyond recognition. The ICC would be fully justified giving us more test matches safe in the knowledge that Zimbos are no pushovers

[CrimsonAvenger]

Things became ordinary after the first couple of days play, but there were glimpses of improvement after that horrid collapse, thanks to the contributions of Taibu and Jarvis with the bat, and later, Price with the ball. But its the second innings collapse that stands out in the defeat, and you would have to believe that not every time you'll find both Taylor and Hamilton failing in both the digs. So, things are still bright for the future.

But only Mawoyo (outstanding to say the least), Taibu and Price can walk away with their heads held high after this match.

[PieChucker]

Realistically speaking, I think Zim did okay on this outing. Having finally escaped Groundhog Day, forever playing Bangladesh, they came up against a quality Pakistan outfit and managed to stretch them for 3 and half days. I think they will have learnt a lot and there are plenty of positives to move forward. Tino stood up, really showed what determination and sheer bloody mindedness can do. More than anything I hope his attitude inspires and infect the entire team. Ray and Tatenda showed grit and refused to give up and Kyle Jarvis revealed some world class talent and application on a very unfriendly pitch. There were some good contributions from Sibanda, Lamb and Ervine and hopefully they will be hungry to convert the 40's to hundreds.
The lapses, all the dropped catches and the batting collapse all point to a mental state. This is something that is fixable. Something that develops in the furnace of Test match cricket. I think our lads will get there, it's only by being exposed to the real fighters and champions that you begin to up your game in every department.
I also think that Alan Butcher deserves some credit for what he has done in his time in Zim. He's managed to instill some self belief in the team. There's a sense of pride and a new found confidence.
The talent is there, there's much to build on - let's hope that they take the lessons and make sure they fill in the gaps.

[Boundary]

True, many good things. Besides Umar Gul and Wahab Riaz, this was a proper Pak line up and we did enough to warrant a draw. I just hope that the issues that need fixing will actually, you know, be fixed. If they do that, we could be handy against NZ. I'm actually fancying our tour of NZ early next year rather than the Queens Test end of October. I think, Vitori and Jarvis will have more fun over there and Sibanda will pull to his content . It's good to see Mawoyo standing up when Taylor and Masakadza fail, a sign of growing belief in the team unit. As Rameez Raja said in commentary, test cricket is about the individuals turning 30s and 40s into big scores. That's our next challenge.