da gbg bet： A dogged opening partnership of 152 between Zimbabwe’s openers AlistairCampbell and Dion Ebrahim gave Zimbabwe an excellent start in a shortenedfirst-day’s play in the Second Test match against South Africa at QueensSports Club in Bulawayo.Just
John Ward14-Sep-2001A dogged opening partnership of 152 between Zimbabwe’s openers AlistairCampbell and Dion Ebrahim gave Zimbabwe an excellent start in a shortenedfirst-day’s play in the Second Test match against South Africa at QueensSports Club in Bulawayo.Just before bad light stopped play, though, theyfell for 77 and 71 respectively, leaving Zimbabwe on 154 for two wickets.The weather in Bulawayo was most uncharacteristic for September: cold,overcast and with a strong blustery wind. Noel Peck’s Queens pitch was muchmore characteristic, looking a beauty for batting, and he did not expect itto give undue assistance to the spinners. Heath Streak won the toss forZimbabwe this time and was delighted to be able to bat.Indeed there were no early problems for openers Alistair Campbell and DionEbrahim, who quickly broke Zimbabwe’s previous record opening partnershipagainst South Africa – of 13. Campbell got off the mark by driving ShaunPollock wide of mid-on for four, and practically the only appeal of thefirst hour came when Ebrahim tried to emulate his second-innings dismissalin Harare by padding up to Pollock.The 50 partnership was raised in 87 minutes, but runs then came moreslowly as South Africa put back their field and adopted a less attackingapproach. They were still together at lunch, Campbell with 40 and Ebrahim28, having done all their team could have asked of them.After lunch, left-arm spinner Claude Henderson tied down the batsmen,especially Ebrahim, but Campbell finally cut him backward of point to reachhis 50. It took another 50 minutes after lunch before the hundredpartnership came up; in this the fifth Test match between the two countries,it was the first time at any point that Zimbabwe could claim any advantage.This, one would expect, would be the time for the batsmen to open upsomewhat, but they were unable or unwilling to do so, preferring to continueto graft in traditional Test-match fashion. With the total on 116, theyplayed out four maiden overs in succession before Ebrahim finally reachedhis 50 in just under four hours. Realistically, though, it could well bethe best game plan for their side, as it is hard to imagine Zimbabwe’sbowlers, massacred in Harare, bowling South Africa out twice on this pitch;once would be a major achievement.Campbell had not added to his 67 at tea when South Africa believed they hadhim caught at the wicket off Makhaya Ntini, between bat and pad; replays appeared toshow that umpire Kevan Barbour had made an excellent decision in declaringit not out as it had apparently touched only pad. Minutes later Ebrahim on59 clipped a ball straight at Herschelle Gibbs at square leg and the chance went down.Campbell (77) finally fell to a half-hearted drive, Gibbs making up for hisdropped catch by holding this one off Lance Klusener’s off-cutters at backwardpoint. The opening partnership of 152, off 80 overs, was Zimbabwe’sthird-best. Then Ebrahim, stuck on his hoodoo score, fell for 71 for thethird time in his Test career, as a ball from Henderson turned sharply andhad him caught at slip.As Stuart Carlisle arrived at the wicket, the umpires offered the batsmenthe light, ending play 40 minutes early. The weather had remained gloomyall day, and more of the same unpleasant conditions are forecast for themorrow.Leg-spinning all-rounder Paul Strang returned to the Zimbabwe team; he lastplayed in India in November last year, when he suffered a recurrence of anarm injury during the First Test at Delhi. He replaced pace bowler DouglasHondo, whose performance in Harare seemed to indicate that he is not yetready for Test cricket.In another change, Craig Wishart had the predictability of the selectorsconfirmed when he found that, yet again, one bad Test has cost him hisplace. Carlisle, injured against West Indies, replaced him in theZimbabwean team. South Africa have kept their winning side.