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ZIM vs PAK | 2nd Test: Pakistan thrash African minnows, left-armers bag fifers apiece

Aryasekhar Chakraborty

Twenty minutes into the fourth day of the second Test match, Pakistan completed a 2-0 whitewash against Zimbabwe, thrashing the African minnows by an innings and 147 runs. Right from day 1, there never came a situation where Zimbabwe got any sort of momentum either in the batting or the bowling front. 

 

Eventually, it was a clinical bowling display on the second and third day from Pakistan which resulted in a convincing victory for them. Also for the first time in history, two left-arm bowlers from Pakistan took all the ten wickets in the sec0nd innings. 

 

The toss turned out to be an important factor for Pakistan. Babar Azam didn’t have any hesitations batting first and there was no way back for them. Riding on a sensational double century from the blade of Abid Ali and a century from Azhar Ali, Pakistan posted a mammoth 510 on the board in their first innings.

 

For Zimbabwe, it was a fiery spell from Blessing Muzarabani which fetched him three wickets. However, he wasn’t quite consistent for longer periods of time. 

 

The only blip up for Pakistan remains Babar Azam’s return in this series. He fell after scoring just two runs but a partnership of 236 runs between Abid Ali and Azhar Ali had already set the tone for Pakistan. To top it off, it was a sensational 8th wicket partnership between Hasan Ali and Nauman Ali which took Pakistan beyond the 500-mark. 

 

Zimbabwe were never up to the mark in either of the innings. They were not ready to play the waiting game and kept giving away their wickets cheaply to the Pakistan bowlers. Hasan Ali was the star for Pakistan with the ball in the first innings bagging yet another fifer for his country. 

 

He bowled deadly lines and the Zimbabwe batsmen kept succumbing one after the other. Regis Chakabva was the top scorer for Zimbabwe with 33 as they were skittled out for a meagre 132 runs in just a shade over 60 overs. Barring Hasan Ali, Sajid Khan also bagged a couple. 

 

There was no hesitation in Babar Azam’s mind on enforcing the follow on. Zimbabwe was a tad better in the second innings but was nowhere close to avoiding the innings defeat. The pair of Shaheen Afridi Nauman Ali was the two wreckers in chief bagging fifers apiece. 

 

Chakabva again looked composed in the middle and was the highest scorer again with a knock of 80. A partnership of 80 off runs with Brendan Taylor settled the nerves a bit but from there on, the two left-arm pacers tightened the screws around the Zimbabwe batsmen as wickets kept falling on a consistent basis. Eventually, they were bundled out for 231, handing Pakistan an innings victory. 

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