[Match Thread] Zimbabwe v Pakistan (Only Test)

[Trevor]

I had given up...i didnt think we could take it to day 5. Hats off to tibba and Jarvis...hopefully we can take a wicket or 2 off pakistan to make the result a bit easier to look at...

Those who were saying, it was embarrassing...waht say you now?

Tibbly and Jarvis may yet give us a fighting chance at a draw (and they deserve a lot of credit for that), but we're not there yet. The damage has already been done by the 8 before them, and that was mostly down to bad play.

Dont get me wrong, I am not saying we could draw this, all I am saying is the likely loss will most definately be easier to look at than the result where we would have lost inside 4 days...having said that, there was a lot of terrible play

[TheBradDevil]

DID WE REACH STUMPS???? I CANT BELIEVE THIS! First session if we extend lead at least we make Pakistan come back after lunch. After my near heart attack i couldnt be better. Taibu needs a 100, Jarv a slow 40/50 if we are to have a sniff. Ill be dreaming of batting till lunch tommorrow, I pray we can do this. Nevertheless im glad we are showing character (and Pakistanis not immune to collapses also)

[clikcspeed]

I'm happy that we've taken them for the whole 5. A great fightback from Jarvis, little more can be said about Taibu. Who knows, if this pair can stick around to around lunch then we may have an outside chance of a draw.

Application wise, we have been exposed, the catching, senseless batting; these and other variables need to be tweaked because we will play New Zealand under the same conditions.

[brmtaylor.com admin]

I had given up...i didnt think we could take it to day 5. Hats off to tibba and Jarvis...hopefully we can take a wicket or 2 off pakistan to make the result a bit easier to look at...


Those who were saying, it was embarrassing...waht say you now?

I'll say that I was a little trigger happy in saying the game would be done and dusted tonight and contributing to the post-mortem thread

But 8/135 is still an embarrassing score. Kyle "Tino 'The Wall' Mawoyo" Jarvis has done very well to bat for 77 deliveries and I hope he can bat for another 77 and beyond, I want him to make a century! But it's pretty unlikely; first thing tomorrow Jarvis (and Taibu) will have to start from scratch and the reality is Taibu might run out of partners pretty quickly if the bowlers place a few well directed yorkers.

Zimbabwe have at least passed some of their lowest Test scores, so that embarrassment has been avoided. But anything below 180 typically is a bad score anywhere, and if Taibu and Jarvis can guide us to over 180 that would be one hell of an effort. The current 66 run partnership is incredible in itself. What is Zimbabwe's record 9th wicket stand?

Because we conceded that 50 run lead it makes the job even more difficult. To just give the bowlers something to defend we'd need to lead by 175 which is still a good hundred odd runs away. At the moment, as someone mentioned above, the key is to just take it one ball at a time and put as many runs on the board and give the bowlers the best chance possible to make the loss look better than "Pakistan won by 10 wickets".

[maehara]

Zim's record for the 9th wicket is 87 - Strang & Strang, vs Pakistan, 1996.

[eugene]

You guys are forgetting that Ray Price is going to come in and take 10 wickets tomorrow and Pakistan will be bowled out for under 80. Our lead is already big enough - any runs that Taibu and Jarvis score from now on are just bonus runs to pad our victory margin.

[jimbo]

You guys are forgetting that Ray Price is going to come in and take 10 wickets tomorrow and Pakistan will be bowled out for under 80. Our lead is already big enough - any runs that Taibu and Jarvis score from now on are just bonus runs to pad our victory margin.

Eternally optimistic but it would be good. If Zim win this I will streak naked down my street lol

[jimbo]

If ever we need Chris Mpofu to register his first 50 this would be it

[eugene]

We need Jarvis and Mpofu to put on a Gillespie/McGrath type of partnership. I remember when those two put on a century partnership against NZ at the Gabba.

[Flower power]

Pakistan think they have finished the game . The fight is still there .Its Test cricket not one day cricket .I hope Jarvis and Taibu survive until lunch .