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Great Test Matches..

Neil Pickup

Cricket Web Moderator
This happened 20 minutes ago:

August 2017, Ashes Series

It's already 2-0 to england with two to play as they look to make it six successful defences of the urn in a row. Australia win the toss and bat at a gloriously sunny Headingley, with England calling up home favourite Stanley Tennison for his debut after Worcester's Nick Walton - averaging 69 in Tests after another double century in the innings victory in the Second Test - was ruled out for the rest of the Summer with a fracture.

The visitors were cruising at 297-5 before the English off-spin twins Jeff Ewing and Mitchell Jowell skittled the tail for 302, but England were unable to build upon this as they hit the self-destruct button in reply and crashed to 81-7 in the 26th over. Debutant Tennison, batting at seven, was still there and has both he and Ewing made 40, the follow on was averted, but at 191-9 the Aussies looked red hot favourites.

Yet Jowell is not one to let his bowling go to waste and as he and Des Thompson build a vital stand for the last wicket. When Thompson finally fell for 55 early on Day 3 (his second FC fifty - both in Tests) they had somehow taken England to 308, a six-run lead and put on a user record 117 for the last wicket.

The drama had only just begun as Hurst (267) and Scargill (117) then put on a massive 360 for the second wicket in the Australians' second innings as all four of the English frontline bowlers were relentlessly put to the sword. Once again, however, they underestimated the resilience of Mitchell Jowell. And unthen 417-1 became 466-3 and 493 all out as Jowell took the first eight wickets to fall before Ewing finished the job with the final two.

Still, this set England 487 to win the test in a little over four sessions on a pitch that now was very difficult and turning almost square. Yet this did not faze the top order who, unbothered by any exertions in the first innings, put on 80+ for the first four wickets and at 307-3 at lunch on day five looked good for an incredible victory.

But then the Australians struck three times in quick succession to reduce the hosts to 388-6 and by tea they had added nine more to leave themselves 90 in the final session with four wickets in hand, with television audiences hitting the tens of millions as 36-year-old memories were evoked.

Yorkshireman Tennison showed true grit and recorded a determined 42 to anchor the more agressive play of tailenders Charles Patrick (22) and Ewing (26*) but fell two short of the target.

But this only brought Jowell - with match figures of 14-224, taking him to 495 test wickets in just 93 tests - to the crease and he sealed the win with 20 minutes to spare, crashing Fessey to the cover boundary off his first ball, a fitting end to one of the greatest Tests of all time.
 

Mr Mxyzptlk

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WEST INDIES IN ENGLAND 2004

ENGLAND V WEST INDIES 5TH TEST
THE OVAL, LONDON

England captain Marcus Trescothick won the toss and elected to bat first on a flat batting wicket. The West Indies were already up 3-1 in the series, so England entered the match just hoping to save some dignity. The West Indian bowling had been off and on for the entire series with Dillon in particular being inconsistent.

Hinds (349 runs), Gayle (303 runs), Lara (545 runs) had all had good series. Lara came in in sparkling form with 179 and 138* to his name in the last two Tests. For England, Thorpe (537 runs) and a young man in his first season of Test cricket named Keith Oxton (500 runs) led the charge.

The England batsmen moved to the crease and after the early loss of Mark Ramprakash, construed to smash the West Indian bowling to all parts. Trescothick scored fluently for the first time in the series and was finally dismissed for 173. He was supported by Oxton (68), Thorpe (62) and Simon Guy with 63. For the West Indies, Reon King took 5/80 and Fidel Edwards snatched 3/107 in his second Test. The England final score sat at 493.

In reply the West Indies fell into early trouble at 55/3 with Gayle (35), Hinds (3) and Chanderpaul (4) all back in the pavilion. Lara (51) and Sarwan (28) consolidated with a 66-run partnership, but they then fell within 9 runs of each other. Jacobs played well for 46, but wickets continued to fall at the other end as Hoggard ripped through the order, ending with excellent figures of 5/34. Jason Brown took 4/75. The West Indies were all out for 197 and asked to follow on, still 296 runs behind with 2 days and a session remaining.

Hinds and Gayle saw the day out in preparation for a fascinating fourth day. The England team came out charged up but saw no joy. The Jamaican openers put on 233 runs for the first wicket before Gayle was out for 103, caught brilliantly by Trescothick at slip. Chanderpaul lasted 6 balls without a run before being bowled by Dean and Lara hit a boundary in his 11 before nicking Dean to captain Trescothick. The score had slumped from 233/0 to 252/3 and England were right back in command. Sarwan and Hinds batted patiently and Hinds crossed 150. He seemed destined for his maiden double hundred, but alas it was not to be. He played loosely to a ball from Dean and was easily caught by Trescothick - his third catch.

The two had put on 133 runs and taken the West Indies to a lead of 89 runs with 6 wickets in hand. Hooper joined his Guyanese team mate and the two batted calmly for 80 runs before Brown had Hooper caught prodding forward. Jacobs strode to the crease with the lead at 169 and the game approaching tea on day 5. Surely the game was secure by now, but Lara took no chances. He allowed Sarwan to bat on to his 3rd Test hundred in adding 22 with Jacobs. On the stroke of tea Lara declared with a lead of 191 runs and leaving the hosts to survive 2 hours to draw the game. It seemed as though it would be a simple task on a batting wicket.

This over-confidence soon told as Trescothick played down the wrong line on his first ball from Dillon and was caught by his opposite number, Lara, at first slip- 1/1. Young gun Oxton came out, but 2 balls later, he nicked Dillon to gully where Ramnarine gleefully accepted- 1/2 and England in trouble. The first over was not yet completed. Dillon turned at his mark and charged in to the new batsman, Thorpe.... edged!! just wide short leg...1 run- 2/2.

Thorpe and Ramprakash batted in defensive mode with great purpose and resisting some excellent bowling from Dillon and Ramnarine. Ramnarine beat Thorpe's bat on 5 occasions and he beat Ramprakash's on 3. Thorpe was then dropped by Lara at slip on 15 and the next ball, Ramprakash was dropped by the bowler Edwards on 10. That was the end of the drama and what could have been for the tourists. Thorpe and Rampers added an unbeaten 70 runs and took England to stumps at 71/2. Wavell Hinds won the Man of Match award and West Indies finished the series in 3-1 ascendance.
 

nibbs

International Captain
note: the following scores are guesses. I can't remember exactly

It was the second test in the 2009 series against. New Zealand (me) were 1-0 up, and it appeared that a changing of the guard in test cricket had begun.

Australia batted first and showed true grit, scoring a fine 390 AO.

New Zealand reply was hopeless. The team simply played ****. Thats the only way to describe it. At 120/8 the following looked certain. Jacob Oram was trying hard to keep the ship together. What followed was a true show of class as Oram with the help of some taileneders avoided the follow on, and somehow got within 110 of Australia.

For some reason their was just this feeling in the air. Hence, my bowlers destroyed the Aussie for 150. Leaving 260.

And with that the Kiwi batsmen smashed Australia to pieces.

After this victory NZ surged into the number spot in the world, and stayed there before a number of talented bowlers retired. We were always fine for batsmen, just never had the bowlers. No decent bowlers eventually meant rage and giving up this particular game. Still some great moments to take from it...
 

Neil Pickup

Cricket Web Moderator
Pakistan v England 2028/29 - Fourth Test

Two pathetic English batting performances in the opening Test had destined the side to an early 2-0 deficit in the series before Dom Holroyd (241), Aaron Weaver (160) and Steve Bradshaw (183 off 115 balls) helped England to 744-7 and a crushing innings-and-186-run victory in the third kept the series in the balance.

The fourth Test started on a perfect batting track but England's top order proceeded to throw away starts, with only Henry Bradshaw's 71 saving them from embarrasment as the tail limped to 241 all out. Pakistan were looking comfortable at 139-3 before Will Henderson (4-55) and David Mutch (5-32) combined to take seven wickets for 20 and skittle the hosts for 159.

Holroyd (83) and Steve Bradshaw (74) both made fifties in England's second knock but no other player passed 27 as England could only manage 294, setting Pakistan 377 to win before reducing them to 72-2.

Now, however, Bilal Rizwan and Mohammad Gul added 205 for the third wicket to bring the hosts within 100 of the target before Mutch's arm ball trapped Gul (106) leg before. Rizwan (138) and Pervez Zaman (52) then eased onward before Somerset off-spinner Michael Porter accounted for both, Rizwan edging one to veteran Worcestershire keeper David Page and Zaman chopping onto his own stumps. 350-5.

The new ball was available, but skipper Holroyd kept faith with his spin attack as Hashim Farooqi edged a tentative prod off Porter to Steve Ringham at slip and Pinyal Arif's off-stump was disturbed by the same bowler. 357-7, and 20 were needed with three wickets, but number six, Chetan Shah, was still there. Shah then attempted to flick Worcester offspinner Mutch through the legside and was bowled off his pads before Holroyd called for the new ball and trusted the Northants pair of Henderson and veteran Charles Patrick with saving the match and the series.

Patrick responded immediately, knocking back Pervez Shah's middle stump - 367-9 and ten were needed. Hasan Kundi and Tariq Raja then proceeded on one of the most agonising run-accumulation exercises in Test history and eight overs later, were on 375-9, just one behind before Patrick, incredibly, conjured up a delivery that came in off the pitch between Kundi's bat and pad to bowl him and grant England an incredible one-run win.

Pakistan were set 301 to win in four hours in the final and deciding Test after 144* from Jeff Sked - his first Test century - guided England away from grave danger at 254-6, just 167 ahead, with four sessions to play. Patrick's part in England's resistance was also crucial, making 50 and 47 in the first innings, when Steve Ringham's 128 was instrumental in keeping England in the game. Pakistan refused to make a game of it, and only Ghulam Rauf's 73* saved them after Mutch (3-28) threatened another middle-order meltdown.

The series - arguably one of the greatest ever - was drawn 2-2, and evoked 28-year-old memories of India and Australia's famous clashes.
 
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Magrat Garlick

Global Moderator
OK, it's only the last match of the CC, but it deserves mention.

In one of the tightest fights in the history of the County Championship, at least three teams had a theoretical chance of lifting the trophy. Warwickshire and Kent, both stuck on 190 points, had a chance if they could take more points than their opponents in the last match, but while Kent played away at a full-strength Yorkshire including Michael Vaughan and Matthew Hoggard, Warwickshire were at Hove against a Sussex lacking batting depth. That was the reasoning, anyway, as Nick Knight opted to bowl under cloudy skies. But nobody had reckoned with the Zimbabwean opener Murray Goodwin's smacking strength. He hit 15 fours in a splendid 92 that frustrated all of the Warwickshire bowlers, both full-time and part-time. When he eventually got out, caught by second slip Dom Ostler off the Scot Dougie Brown's bowling, Richard Montgomerie built on the already remarkable score of 156/1. A partnership of 80 with Christopher Adams followed, but after that the Warwickshire bowlers found their way again. Ashley Giles had Montgomerie lbw on 106 in an otherwise chanceless innings, while Philip Cottey scored 61* from number four. He never got any help from anyone else, though, as Warwickshire wrapped up the last seven wickets for exactly one hundred runs.

The tactic of bowling first certainly backfired, as Rob Kirtley dug into Warwickshire's makeshift opener Ostler early (coming in for Mike Powell, who had fractured his ribs in the previous match against Yorkshire), while Phil Hutchison got Wagh bowled through the gate as he got way too aggressive early on. With Jamie Troughton gone on three as well, things were looking remarkably grim for Warwickshire, 324 behind with only 7 first-innings-wickets in hand. However, that was as dire as it got. Ian Bell and Nick Knight put on 55 for the fourth wicket before Robinson had him caught by Cottey on 26, but then the rookie batsman, Nicholas Warren, showed his grit.

Coming in at 73-4 chasing 346 is never a good situation to come in, and to make your maiden FC innings in such a situation must be some added pressure. But the 20-year-old mastered it in style, starting slowly (he didn't hit a run from the first twenty balls), and then building the innings gradually, stone by tiny stone. It was exactly what Warwickshire needed - a cool head that would see them past the follow-on target of 196. Warren put on 65 with Knight for the fifth wicket (although Knight did most of the job), but he wasn't scared when the more experienced batsman left for an all-rounder who could fail, Shaun Pollock. Instead, another fifty partnership saw them well past the follow-on target, and back in contention for the game. Warren was eventually bowled by Kirtley, as the naturally defensive batsman got confused by Knight's orders of attacking. A good innings of 28 from Ashley Giles contributed to being only 89 behind at the end of the first innings, but things weren't exactly top standard.

Alan Ricahrdson corrected that. Two key wickets in the early overs - Murray Goodwin clean bowled for 4 after only 3.4 overs and Christopher Adams nicked for a duck only 4 overs later - had Sussex reeling on 21/2. All the bowlers contributed, including the part-timers - Jamie Troughton at one point had 1.1-1-0-2 as his bowling figures, and Mark Wagh ended with 1-0-1-1 - but it was the Scot, Dougie Brown, who took the key wickets. Montgomerie was again caught by second slip trying to drive one to the offside, while Philip Cottey, on 18 from only 22 balls, was caught magnificently by diving midwicket Jamie Troughton to have Sussex reeling at 45/3 (Montgomerie's demise came later). Also taking the wicket of Robin Martin-Jenkins on 33, he certainly was a key bowler.

After 257 in the first innings, doubts were raised about Warwickshire's ability to chase a target as big as 293. It needed to be done, despite Kent's worries at Yorkshire (Kent being 9/2 trying to chase 350, as Matthew Hoggard wrapped up both the Kent openers inside three balls), as Yorkshire were themselves a dangerous threat if they won the match. Bears fans needn't have worried, though. A magnificent partnership between Nick Knight and Dominic Ostler, who this time ignored that he was a makeshift opener and scored 65 before being dismissed early on the final day, projected Warwickshire to control of the match at 145/1. Despite Phil Hutchison's 3/94 (removing in addition to Ostler Mark Wagh for 9 and Jamie Troughton for 35), he was hopelessly alone as Knight made singles and boundaries off every poor ball. Knight ended with a splendid 135* - his fourth first-class century of the season - and with Ian Bell scoring 27* as well, Warwickshire cruised to the target with 7 wickets in hand just before tea. Warwickshire scored 17 points from the match and pipped Yorkshire for the title by a meagre 5 points - despite drawing half the matches in the season, including a terrible effort at Taunton where Somerset were 194 behind after the first innings, only for Lathwell to score 231* and Somerset to eventually set a target of 265 - which Warwickshire eventually were only 17 runs short of after a characteristic Nick Knight ton.
 

gio

U19 Cricketer
Neil Pickup said:
A few things...

James Kirtley
Tony Cottey
Paul Hutchison
Jim Troughton

;)
and Chris Adams (I've never heard him being called christopher before)
 

Magrat Garlick

Global Moderator
Well, excuse ME! Look up your ICC database and see how it's spelt...(apart f rom Paul Hutchison, that was just a lazy mistake at twelve o'clock)
 

IsuraE

School Boy/Girl Captain
Neil Pickup said:
A few things...

James Kirtley
Tony Cottey
Paul Hutchison
Jim Troughton

;)
Robert James Kirtley
Philip Anthony Cottey
Jamie Oliver Troughton

I think the ICC database uses the first name instead of the "common" name for most players.
 

xixsoside

Cricket Spectator
Pakistan vs Zimbabwe

Toss : Pakistan and decide to bat

Pakistan 1st Innings-

Saeed Anwar opened the innings with N Khan on a dead pitch which promised some turn in the last couple of days. The weather was projected to be very cloudy with chances of rain in those days to upset matters further. Zimbabwe had been beaten in the last test by innings and 27 runs with Saeed Anwar scoring 230.

With P Strang injured, Goodwin left home due to selection discrepency and A Flower deciding to give up his captaincy - the Zimbabwean team seemed destined to come second best in this series. Stand in captain for the test, until a later captain would be assigned, was Heath Streak - one of the few performers so far in the Zimbabwean squad.

Day 1

Before lunch the Pakistani batsman took the Zim bowling side to the cleaners. Bryan Strang was hit for 24 runs in one over as Saeed Anwar carried his form from the last game into this one. The break through came 5 minutes before lunch when Naseem Khan was caught behind from a Streak delivery for 48. At lunch the score ended at 131 for 1 with Saeed Anwar cruising at 72*.

The post lunch session though saw an unlikely comeback from the Zim bowlers, in particular its part timers such as Grant Flower and Viljoen. Both picked up early wickets and Pakistan stumbled from 142 for 1 to 155 for 3. The going got worse when Saeed Anwar played a rash stroke and was caught at first slip for 80 off Olonga. Soon after the loss, Zim captain Streak brought on the pace onslaught with himself, Olonga and Strang bowling tandem hoping to pick up another scalp. But Nawaz and Razzaq maintained their cool head and saw off the pressure until Tea. This session proved a huge moral booster for the Zimbabweans who had almost taken out the top and middle order and were only couple of wickets away before they could sieze the tail. The score was 204 for 4.

If the post lunch session was dominated by Zim bowlers, the post Tea seemed destined for on, Afsar Nawaz. The young talented keeper drafted in place of M Khan wrecked havoc and he achieved his 2nd 50 of his test career. Taking a cue from Nawaz, Abdur too lashed out at the Zim bowlers and soon after reached his fifty in fine form. The pressure seemed to be coming back at Zim as Streak ran out of ideas to contain these two batsman. The day ended with no wickets taken and 140 runs coming from the session. End of day score was 344 for 4 and Zim looked to be staring down the barrel.

Day 2

This day belonged to Streak who showed his awesome prowess in bowling by first taking out Nawaz's middle stump and then running through the lower Pakistani order. Pakistan added 36 runs to their first day score before they were all out. Razzaq remained at 89*.

Zim innings started with Masakadza going out first bowl, cleaned bowled to a Waqar Younis delivery. But the Flower brothers took over and presented a 100 run partnership before Saqlain Mushtaq had Grant Flower stumped to a flighter of a delivery. Mark Vermuleun came to give excellent support to Flower who eventually reached his century. It seemed the captaincy pressure of which Flower had been relieved of only a night before had worked wonders for his batting. The close of play saw the wicket of Vermuleun for 40 after Razzaq got him caught and bowled. Zim ended days play at 229 for 3. Good day indeed for the underdogs.

Day 3

Flower resumed his anchor innings role from Day 2, stroking his shots to perfection. Friend on the other hand decided to take some risks and get some pressure onto the Pakistani bowlers, while he got away with some streaky shots, an attempted six off Mushtaq fell into the lap of Youhana and Zim were down to 4 with 266 on the board. Arshad Khan then hit Zim with some loopy spins, his first target was the all important Andy flower who got deceived by the wrong 'un and was clean bowlder, followed by quick wickets of Brent and Streak. Saqlain mean while complemented Arshad really well by taking out Viljoen and in no time Zim had a collapse of their own and were eventually all out for 297.

Pakistan back in control once again were given an awesome start as Anwar and Khan scored almost a run a ball and got themselves a third successive century opening partnership. To add to Zim woes, Brent over stretched himself in bowling and had to be carried off. Medical reports clarified that he would be out for 2 weeks and would definitely not play a part in this game. 189 runs - that was the worth of the opening partnership before Khan skied a Grant Flower bowl into the awaiting arms of Streak. But it seemed the men in Green were not about to ease up their run glut. Younis Khan tore the part timers apart and he scored his 50 in just 39 deliveries. Saeed Anwar achieved his 2nd century of the series. But there was some reprise for Zim bowlers as Olonga struck just before close of play by taking out Khan and then Youhana in the same over. Day 3 closed with Pakistan on 305 for 3 and a total lead of 388.

Day 4

As was expected day 4 before with the ball moving like a top. Streak immediately employed his part timers in the hope for a wicket or two. And his decision paid off, Viljoen in particular enjoyed his left arm over gentle spin and took 4 wickets in quick succession as Pakistan began to crumble from 305 for 3 to 316 for 7. With Anwar still there and Saqlain Mushtaq giving him support the Pakistani's continued their romp. Until Streak much like the first innings struck, taking out the lower order and leaving Anwar stranded on 157*. After Pakistani 2nd innings Zimbabwe required 438 runs to win in just over 140 overs and under 5 sessions.

As expected Zim batsman came out defending and scored only 16 runs till Tea. The ploy did not budge an inch post tea and the two played very conservatively scoring 81 after Day 4 ended.

Discouraged by the negative tactics, captain of the Pakistani team asked Zim to play for a win instead, his comments were rebuffed by Streak who stated the team was playing with logic and would apply itself accordingly in day 5.

Day 5

Day 5 began as day 4 ended. With Zim chasing 357 for a win the two openers downplayed any possible hint of a run chase and scored 68 runs in the lunch session. Disheartened and bored fans booed the two batsman as they made their way to the pavilion for lunch. But in all this negative play, zim did achieve their highest opening partnership.

Those fans who had gone back home siting a boring finish though were left shell shocked amongst others as Zimbabwe came roaring back from oblivion. Masakadsa went full throttle as he took the visibly fatigued **** bowlers to the cleaners. Joined in the fun, temporaily was G Flower, who in one over hit the out of form Sami for 22 runs. Flower though fell for 78 as Saqlain came in for his 2nd spell. But with the pacemen out of energy, the Pakistani captain decided to give Youhana the ball. Andy Flower and Masakadsa welcomed the decision by smacking him for 55 runs in 4 overs. Meanwhile Flower seemed more content in giving the strike to man possessed - Hamilton Masakadsa. The post lunch session ended with Zimbabwe scoring 168 runs off of it. Shockingly the Zim now needed 120 odd runs to win the game.

Shocked and stunned the Pakistani captain brought in his strike bowlers in an attempt to get wickets. And wickets he did get. Wasim Akram took out the centurion and masterblaster Masakadsa, Younis took out Andy Flower, and Saqlain Mushtaq took out Vermuleun - all in a space of 8 overs, during which the Zim mustered up 40 runs. Requiring 80 odd runs from 20 odd overs was not a hard task for a team with a more batting credibility, but Zim didn't have their main stays and Streak had to make a decision, to go for the win or stay for the draw. To which he ultimately chose - win.

Friend, whose ODI form had been stunning over the year, got into his ODI mode and blasted the pace men. Realizing Friends affinity to pace, the spinners were called in. And like it was expected, Friend got out to a turner off Mushtaq. With Brent out and a batsman short, Streak sent Bryan Strang for some clean hittings, but instead Strang was out first ball LBW'ed to Mushtaq. Viljoen too was given out from a very dubious decision of LBW off Arshad Khan. Zim needed 38 off 60 balls with Streak, Olonga and Nkala as the only batsman left.

Streak decided to cover Olonga from the strike and kept taking singles to keep himself on strike. Couple of very close LBW decisions went against him, of which atleast one seemed very legal. Ultimately after some blocking and runnings, Zim came down to needed 16 runs off the last 12 deliveries.

Akram was brought on to bowl the penultimate over. His first delivery to Olonga, induced an edge to the square region but there was no one their to lap up the simple catch. A single was taken. Streak defended the next two deliveries aimed at his leg stump. Streak did play the fourth ball, and he whacked it over cover, high in the air, it seemed uncertain whether it would fall short or go all the way. Fortunately for Streak the latter happened. 9 needed off 8. Streak hit the 5th ball toward long on and ran a quick single. The final bowl was left alone by Olongo as Zim required 8 off the last 6 with one wicket in hand.

Mohammed Sami was given the responsibility of the final over and the young lad opened the over with a wide. Drowned in boos, Sami second ball rapped Streak in his pads, loud appeal, Not Out. 7 off 5. Streak smashed the next delivery towards the square leg boundary for a 4. The pressue was now all on Pakistan and Sami. 3 off 4. And Sami responded fabulously, taking out Streaks leg stump with a cracker of a 4th delivery. As Nkala came out to the middle, the crowd anticipated in breathless silence. 3 off 3 , 1 wicket in hand. Sami's 3rd was another thunderous one, rapping Nkala on the pads, the appeal was turned down. Sami's 2nd was hit by Nkala on the up, who skied a huge shot, again towards the boundary, but this time it fell short, of both the ropes and a fielder and Nkala came back for 2. Now with the game tied, the Pakistani captain brought his fielders into the circle, hoping to stop that one single which would give Zimbabwe their first win in 9 tests. Sami Runs. Nkala skies it again. Dropped. Anwar the culprit, 3 runs taken. Zimbabwe Win!! Zimbabwe WIN!! ZIMBABWE WIN!!

Post Match :
Losing Captain - "we played well, but ultimately determination won them the game, we need to come back stronger in the next game, possibly pick an extra batsman"

Streak - "Feels great. We kept our spirits high ever after the first day. I thought that last over summed it all up. Both sides had chances, and in the end we siezed ours one better. Looking for next test, and hopefully we can come good again. Hope Brent gets well soon. Am proud to lead my country to a win in my first game in charge. Great moment".

MoM - Saeed Anwar - "I feel like a wreck. I don't know whether I'll remember this game as a MoM moment or a dropped catch moment. Its terrible we ended up losing that way. Neither deserved to lose. Excellent showcase by youngster Masakadsa. Hopefully we can come good in the final Test".

--------

For those who care. The final test match was a draw after rain affected gameplay in the first two days.

In brief, Streak won the toss, decided to bowl. Pakistan were all out for 203 in a rain affected innings, new bowler Englebrecht took 6 of those wickets on his debut. Zim responded with a 240 all out, Saqlain getting 5 wickets. Masakadsa, a young player, looking to become the future of Zim cricket scored another 100 in the innings. Pakistan came back with 340 declared for 5, with Saeed Anwar hitting yet another century. Zim closed play with 85 for 5 with Masakadsa sitting on 50 not out.

Man of Series - Saeed Anwar
Man of Match - Hamilton Masakadsa

Top Wicket taker - Saqlain Mustaq.


Hope you have liked my presentation :-)
 

Cloete

International Captain
Brilliant! Has to be one of teh best match reports, and matches I'v read! Of all the things to happen on the last ball, that has to make your day! :D

Very well done mate, and a top notch performance to beat Pakistan in Pakistan, let alone with Zimbabwe!
 

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