By Saj Sadiq
November 24 2002

Pakistan had a successful weekend in Bulawayo, as Yousuf Youhana and Saleem Elahi hit centuries. The Zimbabweans fought well in the first match but were outclassed in the second one-dayer. Pakistan's batsman must have thought Eid had come early as they hammered the Zimbabwean bowling attack all around the park in both matches. The African bowling attack minus Streak, Hondo and Friend were always going to struggle to contain the Pakistani firepower, but even Waqar himself must have been surprised with the scores of 302 and 344 respectively.

With all due respect to the opposition, anything other than a 5-0 whitewash in this series would be unacceptable and Pakistan are well on the way to achieving that aim.

The first match turned out to be a lot closer than had been expected after Pakistan had put up a score of 302 for 4, thanks largely due to Yousuf Youhana's magnificent 141 coupled with useful contributions from Saleem Elahi, Inzamam ul Haq and Younis Khan. The Pakistani bowlers must have thought that at 32 for 4, the home team would just crumble, but if there is one thing that this Zimbabwean team have, it's a never say die attitude and they must be congratulated for that.

Some very close decisions went the way of the home team and frustration for the Pakistani bowlers and fielders became more evident. In the end the Zimbabweans, like much of the test series, were never really in with a chance of winning the match, but it must have been a wake up call for the Pakistanis to see the Zimbabwean lower order putting up such stern resistance. 3 run outs from the Pakistani fielders, a rarity in itself, did not help the Zimbabean innings and in the end Pakistan won by 7 runs.

The Pakistani bowling did not look special with none of them having a good day with the ball, although 3 of them can argue that they were a little rusty, having not played International cricket for a while. More so, if one wants to be critical, one can point to a lethargic attitude being the reason why Zimbabwe made such a high total batting second.

The toss for the 2nd match again went Pakistan's way and Waqar opted to bat first again. Taufeeq and Elahi shared an excellent opening partnership of 159 before Saleem went for 107. An excellent innings from Saleem and Imran Nazir and Saeed Anwar must be biting their nails over WC selection matters.

The last 18 overs must have been shear torture for the Zimbabweans, as Pakistan scored 185 runs in this period of play. Many followers of the game say that Pakistan are the most dangerous team in International cricket in the last few overs of a game when they have wickets I hand, and today was clear evidence of this. Boundary after boundary ensued with nice cameos from Afridi, Azhar and Kamran, but Yousuf Youhana absolutely tortured the home team scoring 76 from 34 balls. Yousuf who is renowned for his elegance and grace at the wicket hit 8 classy sixes and 3 fours. The total of 344 for 5 would probably have been too much for any team in cricket today and the Zimbabwean batsman can’t have been looking forward to chasing such a huge total.

It’s common knowledge that when the Pakistani bowlers are fired up and in the mood, then nobody is going to stop them. Today was one of those days, as the closeness of the first match must have acted as a spur and an embarrassment for players of the caliber of Waqar and Wasim. At 27 for 5 the Zimbabweans had been flattened by the W’s, especially Wasim who had captured 4 wickets, including the classy Andy Flower.

The rain only stopped a foregone conclusion and Pakistan won by 107 runs using the Duckworth Lewis method. Credit to Sean Ervine who hit 61 off 41 balls to ensure that there the score had some sort of respectability, and the home team must be looking ahead to the rest of the one day series with a fair amount of anxiety. On the other hand the Pakistanis must be content with their performances over the last 2 days, although the momentum must be continued.

The next match is on Wednesday in Harare, and Pakistan can be expected to experiment with their line-up with the likes of Faisal Iqbal, Mohamed Sami and Mohamed Zahid being given a chance. It’s an interesting phase in Pakistani cricket, and as is the case currently with all International teams, with a few World Cup places up for grabs, some of the Pakistani squad are fully aware that one or two poor performances could mean the end of their World Cup dreams.