Pakistan skittle Zimbabwe for 176 before reaching 103-0 on day one of the first Test in Harare; Shaheen Afridi (4-43) and Hasan Ali (4-53) each take four wickets; Abid Ali (56no) hits second Test half-century
Thursday 29 April 2021 16:56, UK
Seamers Shaheen Afridi and Hasan Ali took four wickets each as Pakistan seized control of the first Test against Zimbabwe on the opening day at the Harare Sports Club on Thursday.
The pair helped the tourists dismiss their hosts for 176 in the first innings, before Pakistan reached 103 without the loss of a wicket in reply at the close to trail by 73 runs in the first game of the two-match series.
Openers Abid Ali (56no) and Imran Butt (43no) looked assured on a placid wicket and will seek to give their side a big first-innings lead when play resumes on the second day.
Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat, handing debuts to seamer Richard Ngarava, and middle-order batsmen Roy Kaia and Milton Shumba.
Pakistan selected unorthodox off-spinner Sajid Khan for his first Test cap, though he went wicketless through the first innings.
Zimbabwe were teetering at 30-4 after an early blitz with the new ball from Shaheen (4-43) and Hasan (4-53), but a 59-run stand for the fifth wicket between innings top scorer Kaia (48) and Shumba (27) steadied the home side.
It was broken by a needless run out of the latter and Zimbabwe lost wickets at steady intervals thereafter.
