On their first official tour of Pakistan, Zimbabwe were led by wicket keeper batsman Andy Flower. His opposite number Wasim Akram failed to recover in time from his fractured thumb, to lead his country in the first Test at Karachi's Defence Stadium, a new Test venue. Instead the honour went to his deputy, Waqar Younis who single handedly crushed the tourists with an outstanding haul of 13-135 (6 bowled, 7lbw) in the match.
Wasim Akram came back to lead the team for the second Test at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, another new Test centre. In front of a 15,000 strong crowd on the final day, the tourists chasing 240 almost achieved an unlikely win. Half an hour before the tea break, they were happily placed at 135-1, only to be routed by the two W's who shared between then nine wickets on the final day.
The tourists dream of beating their hosts were thwarted by bad weather at Lahore, in the final Test. Fog and bad light restricted play on the second day and there was only 21 minutes game possible on the third day. Zimbabwe finished with a useful 83 runs first innings lead with Waqar finishing with 5-100 to take his series tally to 27 wickets. In the time left Pakistan were happy to play out for the draw.
When the Pakistani party arrived in Zimbabwe more than a handful of serious problems stared it in the face. With inconsistent batting and Waqar being out of action, the bowling despite Wasim's return seemed uninspiring Zimbabwe picked Henry Olonga, the first black cricketer to represent the country for the first test at the Harare Sports Club. Olonga (18) had missed the selection against Sri Lanka, only because he did not have a Zimbabwean passport. On the first day the home side scored 289-3 with an unbroken partnership between the Flower brothers, Andy and Grant, who added 247 in 73 overs. The run-spree continued the following day as a dispirited Pakistan attack was taken apart in astonishing style. The Zimbabwe score of 544-4 dec. had stunned the cricket world as opener Grant Flower (201*) shared two partnerships in excess of two-hundred.
The already deflated touring squad received another blow when Zimbabwe's steady bowling and sharp fielding allowed them little respite. The first innings total of 322, lifted by injured Inzamamul Haq's brave 71 at number 8, was still short of a follow-on target. The same batsman was asked to rescue the side in the second innings from another mess of 35.5. The match was over on the fourth day as Zimbabwe's first Test victory was recorded. Their seamer Health Streak, despite suffering from a septic big toe, finished with nine wickets that included his country's best figures of six for 90, in the first innings.
For the second Test at Queen's Club at Bulawayo, Pakistan went into the game with four changes. At last Pakistani players were seen playing to their potential. They wrapped up the Test just before close on the third day. The home side found the Pakistan seamers bowling on line for a change and as such struggled to cope on a wicket of almost similar character as the one at Harare. On the first day Zimbabwe was bowled out for 174, with all the bowler keeping good line on a true strip. In the reply Pakistan at 63-4 were rescued by Ijaz Ahmed (76) and a couple of forties from captain Salim Malik and the inform Inzamam.
The tourists were fortunate to gain a lead of 86, despite another inconsistent batting performance. On the third day, Wasim Akram ripped through the opposition by grabbing his 18th five-wicket haul in Test matches. In the end Pakistan were left with 61 to square the series, and Aamer Sohail's rapid 46 off 26 balls earned the tourists a couple of days off. But the third day was not all smooth sailing as Pakistani players were once again not at their best.
In the third and final Test Pakistan took the series by winning the final Test by 99 runs. Although the batting line-up once again failed Pakistan bounced back admirably after conceding 12-runs first innings. Inzamamul Haq who took his tally of runs to 481 (ave. 68.71) in the four Test matches on the African tour failed to reach his second hundred of the match by 17 runs. The value of his 184 runs can be gauged by the fact that the combined contribution from number 7 onwards in the batting line-up amounted to only 19 runs. The twenty-four years old paceman, Aamer Nazir (5-46) bowled with a lot of fire on his way to an initial five wicket haul. A strong crowd of 3,000, record Test in Zimbabwe, on the fourth day saw their side slip to 95-8 against consistently hostile Pakistan bowling.
Zimbabwe toured Pakistan in 1996-97 season, when the latter asserted its superiority by winning the second and last Test at Faisalabad by 10 wickets. The first Test at Sheikhupura was dominated by a remarkable innings from Wasim Akram. His unbeaten 257, his 2nd Test hundred and highest first-class score, was the highest score by a number eight batsman in Test history, contained 12 sixes, a new record for a Test innings, and Akram's eighth wicket partnership of 313 with Saqlain Mushtaq eclipsed Lesley Ames and Gubby Allen's record set in 1931. G. Flower made his 2nd Test hundred and Paul Strang first, he also took five wickets to become the first Zimbabwean to complete the match double. Zimbabwe lost their 3rd Test out of four in a hectic six-week tour as Pakistan's 10-wicket victory brought them a series by 1-0.