January 15, 2008	Tuesday	Muharram 05, 1429

KARACHI, Jan 14: The touring Zimbabwe cricketers found the going tough on Monday when their batsmen fell easy prey to leg-spin of Patron’s XI skipper Shahid Afridi and Yasir Shah on the opening day of the four-day match here.

The tourists capitulated for a modest 209 in their first innings after Hamilton Masakadza, standing in for skipper Prosper Utseya who is sitting out the match to rest an injured ankle, opted to bat on a flat-looking DHA Stadium pitch.

Afridi was the main destroyer with figures of four for 37 in 16 testing overs while the 21-year-old Yasir grabbed three for 42 as Zimbabwe lost eight wickets to the slow bowlers.

Fawad Alam, the talented left-handed all-rounder who also bowls spin, chipped in with the scalp of Sean Williams while left-arm seamers Samiullah Niazi and Kamran Hussain took one wicket each.

Young openers Nasir Jamshed (48) and Khalid Latif (17) then completed a good day’s work for the home side by batting through 21 overs to add 65 without being separated.

Brendan Taylor and Tatenda Taibu, arguably the mainstay of Zimbabwe batting, were the major run-getters after Masakadza had gone for a golden duck when he completely missed the line of a straight delivery from Samiullah.

Vusi Sibanda, the other opener, also perished in the first session when he edged Kamran to wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed after contributing 29 while adding 52 with Taylor, who was also put on 62 with Taibu.

Taylor easily played the best innings with some fine strokes, mainly through the offside before lifting Afridi for a six over wide midwicket.

The diminutive figure of Taibu, the former national captain, also tried to lift the tempo after lunch with adventurous reverse sweeps on his way to 46 off 60 balls with six boundaries.

Yasir finally broke the threatening partnership by luring Taylor – who struck nine fours and one six in his 128-ball 64 – into offering an easy catch to Afridi in the covers.

Taibu’s penchant for the unorthodox sweep caused his downfall when Naumanullah took a nice catch at slip off Afridi.

The left-handed Williams batted attractively for 32 off 36 balls before the rot set in with the last six wickets falling for the mere addition of 27 runs, including the final three for no run.

The Zimbabweans could not have even reached 200 had some of their batsmen not survive a few close shouts for LBW, but umpire Riazuddin chose to ignore them all, much to the chagrin of Afridi.

When Patron’s XI batted, Nasir Jamshed took advantage of loose bowling, particularly from Elton Chigumbura, to strike six fours plus a six off spinner Ray Price in reaching 48 off 57 balls.

Meanwhile, Khurram Manzoor and Wahab Riaz, who were in the Patron’s XI squad but who have been not selected for the this match, have been asked to join the short training national camp, which starts in Lahore from Tuesday.

Pace bowlers Tanvir Ahmed and Uzair-ul-Haq have been summoned to fill the reserves’ bench for the remaining days of the tour game.

Scoreboard

ZIMBABWE (1st Innings):

V. Sibanda c Sarfraz b Kamran 29

H. Masakadza b Sami 0

B.R.M. Taylor c Afridi b Yasir 64

T. Taibu c Nauman b Afridi 46

S.C. Williams c and b Fawad 32

K.M. Dabengwa c Nasir b Afridi 12

E. Chigumbura st Sarfraz b Afridi 21

G.B. Brent c Yasir b Afridi 1

T. Maruma b Yasir 3

R.W. Price lbw b Yasir 0

C.B. Mpofu not out 0

EXTRAS (LB-1) 1

TOTAL (all out, 69.1 overs) 209

FALL OF WKTS: 1-4, 2-56, 3-118, 4-156, 5-182, 6-184, 7-198, 8-209, 9-209.

BOWLING: Sohail Khan 12-1-46-0; Samiullah Niazi 12-2-43-1; Kamran Hussain 10-3-26-1; Yasir Shah 14.1-1-42-3; Shahid Afridi 16-4-37-4; Fawad Alam 5-2-14-1. PCB

PATRON’S XI (1st Innings):

Nasir Jamshed not out 48

Khalid Latif not out 17

EXTRAS 0

TOTAL (for no wkt, 21 overs) 65

TO BAT: Naumanullah, Afaq Raheem, Fawad Alam, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Hussain, Sarfraz Ahmed, Samiullah Niazi, Yasir Shah, Sohail Khan.

BOWLING (to-date): Mpofu 5-3-8-0; Chigumbura 7-0-34-0; Brent 6-1-10-0; Price 3-0-13-0.

UMPIRES: Riazuddin and Ahmed Shahab.

MATCH REFEREE: Abdul Sami Khan.