(Reuters) – Brian Vitori grabbed five wickets and opener Tino Mawoyo scored a half-century as Zimbabwe took control of the second test against Pakistan with a 185-run lead yesterday.
Zimbabwe’s batsmen, however, will be ruing some rash shots towards the end of the third day as they would have been in an even stronger position had they not lost three wickets in the final three overs.
The home side, seeking to level the two-match series, were 121 for four in their second innings after earlier dismissing Pakistan for 230 at the Harare Sports Club.
Mawoyo (58) and Hamilton Masakadza (44) were aggressive in forging a strong 104-run second wicket partnership for Zimbabwe to give them a real chance of setting Pakistan a tough target to chase for victory on a wicket expected to deteriorate. But they both lost their wickets late in the day just when they looked set to return to the crease today.
Mawoyo, who has struggled in the series since returning from injury, survived several close calls, including being dropped by wicketkeeper Adnan Akmal off the bowling of Saeed Ajmal, as he showed a return to form.
