• Downloads  
  • Desktop Alerts
  • Toolbars
  • Wallpapers
  • Screensavers

A brief history

Pakistan v Zimbabwe - A brief history

Martin Williamson

	Alastair Campbell celebrates Zimbabwe's first Test series win overseas after the third Test against Pakistan in Faisalabad in December 1998 was drawn. Adam Huckle, Neil Johnson, Pommie Mbangwa and Grant Flower look on © AFP

1993-94 in Pakistan
Zimbabwe's first major overseas tour, hastily arranged when India pulled out of a planned trip, ended in defeat but the series was not as one-sided as the scoreline suggested. Pakistan won the first Test easily but were on the rack in the second - Zimbabwe were 135 for 1 chasing 240 - before Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram bowled them to a 52-run victory. The third Test was ruined by fog but again Zimbabwe looked a strong side. Their bowling and fielding impressed but their batting lacked the required strength. "Had Zimbabwe possessed a little more experience, Pakistan might have been severely embarrassed by their first-time visitors," Wisden noted. "Despite the scoreline, Zimbabwe had greater cause for satisfaction."
Tests: Pakistan 2 Zimbabwe 0 Drawn 1
ODIs: Pakistan 4 Zimbabwe 0

1994-95 in Zimbabwe
After a poor tour of South Africa, Pakistan's African adventure hit new lows inside Zimbabwe. They were beaten by an innings inside four days, the first ever Test victory for the newest cricket nation, after the Flower brothers shared a stand of 269 for the fourth wicket and Heath Streak took 9 for 105 in the match. Though Pakistan came back to win the three-Test series 2-1, only the third such recovery in history, off the field the tour had descended into controversy and chaos. There were persistent rumours that some of the party were being paid by bookmakers to throw matches and the players were reported to have sworn their innocence on the Koran. Salim Malik accused Zimbabwean umpire Ian Robinson of applying sweat to one side of the ball during the third Test in Harare. On his return to Pakistan, he was sacked as captain and suspended from the game while the board asked him to answer the charges of bribery.
Tests: Zimbabwe 1 Pakistan 2
ODIs: Zimbabwe 1 Pakistan 2

1996-97 in Pakistan
Again this series made headlines but for the right reasons. Wasim Akram scored a remarkable double hundred in the first Test and in the second Pakistan picked Hasan Raza, who was said to be just 14 years and 227 days old. A board spokesman subsequently admitted he was 15. Zimbabwe, without an injured Streak, battled gamely, drawing the first Test only to be skittled inside three days in the second. Wasim won both match awards and was named, inevitably, as man of the series. He then became the first bowler to take 300 wickets in limited-overs internationals in the first over of the one-day series, won convincingly by Pakistan. For a while, it was unclear whether Pakistan would win that series 2-0 or 3-0: the final game, in Peshawar, was called off because of crowd trouble before being restarted on the advice of police. Match referee Jackie Hendriks considered declaring the match void, but ICC ultimately decided to let the result stand.
Tests: Pakistan 1 Zimbabwe 0 Drawn 1
ODIs: Pakistan 3 Zimbabwe 0

1997-98 in Zimbabwe
For the second time in as many tours Pakistan arrived on the back of a highly controversial trip to South Africa and Zimbabwe were left to reflect on missed opportunities. At Bulawayo, Pakistan needing to bat through the final day, subsided to 80 for 4 just after lunch but held on. In the second Test dropped catches proved Zimbabwe's undoing and Pakistan sneaked a three-wicket win. Murray Goodwin, who as a child had emigrated to Perth with his parents, returned to play his first home series in the land of his birth and averaged exactly 100, scoring a maiden Test century in Bulawayo.
Tests: Zimbabwe 0 Pakistan 1 Drawn 1
ODIs: Zimbabwe 0 Pakistan 2

1998-99 in Pakistan
Zimbabwe made history with their first ever win in an overseas Test - and, thanks to a foggy December which ensured draws in the next two games, converted that into their first series victory. With hindsight, this could turn out to be the zenith of their Test history. Pakitsan were distracted by match-fixing allegations and the team was far from united under Aamir Sohail and the captain and coach - the volatile Javed Mianded - clashed. Sohail withdrew with an unspecified illness after the first-Test loss but the damage had been done. At Peshwar, Pakistan prepared a grassy pitch which played into the hands of the Zimbabwe bowlers and Heath Streak, Henry Olonga and Mpumelelo bowled them out for 103 on the third day to set up an unexpected win. Pakistan struck back in the second before dense fog and poor light forced the draw, and similar conditions caused the third Test to be abandoned.
Tests: Pakistan 0 Zimbabwe 1 Drawn 2
ODIs: Pakistan 3 Zimbabwe 0

2002-03 in Zimbabwe
Pakistan started in Zimbabwe and did so confidently, winning both Tests, the first being a hard fight but the second at a canter as Saqlain Mushtaq took ten wickets. The one-day series was a five-match whitewash with only one of the games being remotely close. In the last match Shoaib Akhtar was slapped with a one-game ban for lobbing a plastic bottle into the crowd after being heckled. It set the tone for a third consecutive ill-tempered series in South Africa.
Tests: Zimbabwe 0 Pakistan 1 Drawn 1
ODIs: Zimbabwe 0 Pakistan 5

Other matches
Zimbabwe have managed only two ODI wins against Pakistan in 35 outings and three of the four World Cup clashes have ended in a Pakistan win. The one no result, in Harare in 2003, was possibly the most significant result as it eliminated Pakistan from that tournament.

Martin Williamson is managing editor of Cricinfo

© Cricinfo