Pakistan beat Zimbabwe by 7 wickets

BULAWAYO (Zimbabwe): Pakistan beat Zimbabweby seven wickets at Queens Sports Club on Monday, getting the winning runs with seven wickets in hand a few minutes before lunch on day five.Scorecard
They were left needing 88 runs for victory after bundling the home team out for 141 runs in their second innings, although they did lose three wickets in the process.
Having been put into bat by Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq, Zimbabwe reached 412 all out in their first innings before the tourists replied with 466 all out to establish a first-innings lead of 54.
There was not much in it at that stage but Zimbabwe's second effort collapsed to 135-8 at the close of the fourth day, leaving the Pakistanis with the prospect of a routine mop-up operation.
Misbah-ul-Haq said afterwards: "Maybe I was mistaken asking Zimbabwe to bat first. The wicket had green patches. But the bowlers stuck to the task well.
"Our batting to follow was excellent, of good quality. I am proud of the youngsters, especially Aizaz Cheema, who took eight wickets in the match.
"Zimbabwe are a good side and they will improve with experience and become a strong force in the game I'm sure."
Man of the match was Pakistan's Mohammad Hafeez, who scored 119 and took four wickets for 31.
With one more wicket he would have recorded a 'viper' in cricket terms -- a century plus five wickets in an innings -- but he did not get a bowl in the final session.
Zimbabwe's opening innings score of 412 looked likely to secure at least a draw, which was their prime target in terms of their need to gain respectability in top cricket circles after being readmitted to Tests after a gap of six years.
And if they had not dropped seven Pakistan wickets in their first innings, plus a fumbled run-out opportunity, the tourists' response might have been much lower than 466.
The Zimbabweans' batsmen were exposed by both Pakistan seam and spin in the second innings.
The wicket had deteriorated and they showed inexperience in dealing with it. Five wickets were lost before they even got past the 54-run deficit.
Only Tatenda Taibu and Kyle Jarvis stood between a single figure total and the 141 runs they eventually managed to scrape together.
They put on 66 for the ninth wicket during the late afternoon of the fourth day -- not quite a face-saving effort, more a reprimand to their colleagues.
However, the Zimbabwe innings lasted only 15 balls on Monday morning, Taibu and last man Christopher Mpofu falling to Cheema.
Pakistan lost Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar and Azhar Ali in reaching the winning line, but concentration levels required could not have been of the highest.
The first of three one-day internationals will be played on Thursday, followed by the other two in the series and two Twenty20 matches to round out the Pakistan tour in Harare.

President Robert Mugabe will rule Zimbabwe forever: Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa

Bulawayo-Zimbabwe - President Robert Mugabe will rule Zimbabwe forever - until he dies, Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa has said.
Addressing Zanu PF supporters at Stanley Square in Makokoba high density suburb on Saturday during the launch of party’s anti-sanctions petition in the Bulawayo province, Mnangagwa, who himself harbours presidential ambitions, said nobody will stop Mugabe from continuing with his rule.
Mnangagwa, who in 2004 was accused of hatching a plan to side step Mugabe in what later became known as the Tsholotsho Declaration, has in the past few years gone on a crusade of praise singing the ageing leader.
Top Zanu PF officials, have since independence fallen over each other in singing praises for Mugabe with some blasphemously calling him the “only other son of God” while more recently, the Minister of Information Webster Shamu said Mugabe was like “Cremora”.
Ironically, in the later 90s Shamu led a futile campaign to dethrone Mugabe from being leader of Zanu PF. Due to the bootlicking, former Zimbabwe’s iron lady of politics, Margaret Dongo described the Zanu PF officials as “Mugabe’s wives”, for being scared of him.
And Mnangagwa, lived to this reputation while in Bulawayo last Saturday.
“President Mugabe will continue ruling this country. Nobody will stop him, even if the GPA collapses he will continue ruling. Zimbabweans you are actually lucky to have a brave man like him,” said Mnangagwa.
Mnangagwa, who is also Zanu PF secretary for legal affairs added that “Mugabe is like an elephant and many western countries especially Britain are scared of him that’s why they slapped him with sanctions”.
Last month, Mnangagwa said heads of foreign firms could be forced to go on radio to publicly denounce western sanctions imposed on Mugabe and cronies, or face losing 90% of their company shareholding.
The US and EU have imposed targeted sanctions on Mugabe and his inner circle for human rights abuses, vote rigging, disregard of property rights and other issues.
Mugabe’s Zanu PF party has been calling for the removal of the sanctions for years now, blaming the West’s restrictive measures for the country’s destruction. Two weeks ago, Mugabe launched a national anti-sanctions petition which he said needs two million signatures.
Meanwhile, Zanu PF youths caused chaos outside Stanley Square during the Saturday address by Mnangagwa, as they were blocking traffic and demonstrating along Third Avenue extension, waving placards, denouncing the sanctions.