Zimbabwe v Pakistan 2nd ODI

On another clear, sunny day, Zimbabwe are hoping that this time they can confound Murphy's Law and win the match, to enable them to draw the one-day series with Pakistan. In the Test series, they were confounded by their own catching lapses; yesterday they were scuttled by the decision of the selectors to deal them an inadequate first-line bowling attack. All the time, they still suffer from the fallout of the infamous Colombo Test and inevitably, whenever thoughts of victory come to mind, also present is the thought, ``What will go wrong this time?''

Then answer is, ``Probably the same as yesterday.'' We have just received the news that Dirk Viljoen and Andrew Whittall have been replaced by Craig Wishart and Adam Huckle. So Zimbabwe still have only four front-line bowlers, a gamble which yesterday's experiences made clear was very risky policy indeed. Zimbabwe will still have at least 12 overs to be bowled by part-timers, and if one of their front-line bowlers fails -- and Huckle is a risk in one-day cricket -- then the selectors will do well to go into hiding.

Pakistan, perhaps with a tinge of over-confidence, are making three important changes to their team of yesterday. Aamer Sohail, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Shoaib Akhtar are all sitting out, to be replaced by Saeed Anwar, Moin Khan and Mohammad Hussain. Another good match is expected, and perhaps the most vital factor will be whether Zimbabwe's second-string bowlers can contain the Pakistani batting better today than they did yesterday.

Lunch: Zimbabwe 272/4 (50 overs)

First of all, an apology for the poor ball-by-ball transmission this morning: this was due to the totally unacceptable working conditions we are expected to endure. The press box is situated about twenty metres behind the long leg boundary, at ground level, and members of the public, especially children, continually obscure our view. Even at the best of times, it is very easy to miss an umpire's signal and sometimes balls as well, and the cost of putting this right in both time and stress is heavy. Under these circumstances, neither our press scorer nor myself can cope. Mark Stokes says that he cannot name a Test ground anywhere where the press are so badly positioned as they are here.

On the face of it, Zimbabwe have put themselves in a strong position. This could easily become a nonsense, however, if Zimbabwe's several second-string bowlers cannot contain the Pakistani batsmen better than they did yesterday.

Zimbabwe's openers initially found difficulty in moving the score along, but Grant Flower eventually found his touch and dominated the opening stand with Campbell, in contrast to yesterday. Grant did have his share of luck, dropped at 30 off a drive which bounced off extra cover's hands and reached the boundary, and on 34 quite possibly inadequate work by the television crew saved him from being run out. Campbell never looked fluent and was eventually stumped making a frustrated but half-hearted move out of his crease to attack.

After another slow start, Murray Goodwin eventually announced his intentions with two successive sixes off Mohammad Hussain. This partnership set Zimbabwe up for a good total, and Guy Whittall finished the job with a dashing fifty. Zimbabwe were helped by poor Pakistani catching and some unnecessary misfields.

CLOSE OF PLAY

Murphy's Law has struck again. Even when Zimbabwe do things right, something still goes wrong. Three vital partnerships brought Pakistan to an unexpected victory.

The first was a devastating opening stand between Saeed Anwar and Shahid Afridi, who put on 57 together in just eight overs. Showing the sort of power batting that Zimbabwe cannot emulate in the early overs with fielding restrictions, they ripped apart Zimbabwe's opening attack and perhaps in the process also shattered their fragile belief that they could win this match.

Three quick wickets temporarily changed the complexion of the match, before Mohammad Wasim and Yousuf Youhana settled into a steady century partnership. Without devastating the bowling until near the end, they kept the score ticking over at the required rate, and the Zimbabwe bowlers were unable to make any impression on them. The fielding remained excellent, but the second-string bowlers were again expensive and unable to gain a vital breakthrough.

Three more wickets fell before the final stand which took Pakistan through to victory, between Azhar Mahmood, whose 14 all came in singles, and Mohammad Hussain, who hurried the match to its conclusion with two sixes off Mbangwa, whose 10 overs cost 72 runs without bowling particularly badly.

John Ward

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