Zimbabwe vs Pakistan: 2nd Test, Day 3 - Zimbabwe lose three wickets in the last hour to concede the advantage

Zimbabwe bowler Brian Vitori holds the match ball after a five wicket haul during the third day of the second test match between Pakistan and hosts Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club, on September 12, 2013

Resuming the day on 163/3, Pakistan were bowled out for a meagre 230 runs on the board. In reply, Zimbabwe managed to score 121/4, losing three wickets in the last nine deliveries of the day, after a fine start, to allow Pakistan to come back into the game.

Brian Vitori started the downfall of the visitors by removing Misbah-ul-Haq after enticing him to commit to a drive against a delivery angled across, one which the Pakistani captain managed only to edge it to the first slip. Asad Shafiq‘s woeful form in the series continued as he missed an incoming delivery from Tendai Chatara to see his woodwork disturbed.

Even with the fall of the two wickets, the Pakistan camp had no real reasons to worry with the presence of the ever calm and assured Younis Khan. But it was only then they were handed the hammer blow, as Younis, on 77 runs, top edged Tinashe Panyangara’s length delivery on the stump to short mid-off to leave his team reeling at 212 for the loss of six wickets.

Pakistan’s fragile lower order did not bother showing any resistance as they folded meekly to a score of 230. Vitori cleaned up the tail, by picking up three of the last four wickets, to get his first five-wicket haul in four Test matches.

As the innings resumed, the home team, in a surprise move, promoted Prosper Utseya to open with Tino Mawoyo. The move failed to materialise though, with Utseya sent back by Rahat Ali, for just 5 runs to his name, in as early as the sixth over of the innings.

Hamilton Masakadza, coming in at number 3, combined with Mawoyo to put together 104 runs for the second wicket, in what could be the most crucial partnership of the Test match. Just when Zimbabwe were on the verge of completing an utterly dominant day, with a score of 117 for 1 and just three more overs to go, they lost three wickets on the trot.

Abdur Rehman got the much needed breakthrough by trapping Mawoyo, on 58 runs, through a delivery that was angled in and kept a bit low while Ali accounted for Masakadza, who missed out on his fifty by just six runs.

The umpire signalled the end of the day’s play with the fall of the night-watchman Panyangara, who was Rehman’s second victim of the innings. Zimbabwe’s hopes depend on how well Brendan Taylor and Vusi Sibanda start off the day four.