Eddie Chikamhi-Senior Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE’S stand-in captain Brendan Taylor says the Chevrons need to work on their mindset and their batting ahead of the second Test cricket match against Pakistan which begins in Harare this week.
The Chevrons lost the first Test by an innings and 116 runs.
The Green Shirts drew first blood in the two-match series following a disappointing outing by the hosts, who were bowled out twice in three days after the visitors had put on 426 runs on the board in-between the Zimbabwe innings. The Chevrons started off the match in the worst manner possible after they were bowled out for 176 runs on the first day. Debutant Roy Kaia was the highest scorer with 48 runs to his name while the rest of the batting line up struggled against the variations from the Pakistani bowlers.
Taylor said the poor batting on the first day was their biggest downfall. He felt the batters did not apply themselves well and were not psychologically tuned to bat for longer periods against the quality Pakistan bowlers.
Taylor, who was made the stand-in skipper in the absence of injured Sean Williams, told journalists that it was frustrating to lose the game inside three days. “If you start Day One like that (being bowled out), (then) you are going to chase the game. So that batted us out of the game and the lack of application as a batting group is one of the reasons that we have been beaten by an innings.
“It’s tough to swallow but we have got some days to regroup and hopefully we come back stronger,” said Taylor.
The visitors made light work of Zimbabwe, spurred on by a century from Fawad Alam (140) and half tons from Imran Butt (91) and Abid Ali (60).
Apart from their challenging total of 426 runs, Pakistan were also superior in the field with Shaheen Shah Afridi and Hasan Ali grabbing four-wickets apiece as Zimbabwe were bowled out on Day One. Then a career best 5/36 from Man of the Match, Ali, sealed an innings victory after the Chevrons were bowled out again on Saturday. The Chevrons could only manage 134 runs and they fell way short, with two days still remaining. Zimbabwe and Pakistan will meet in the second match set to start this Friday at Harare Sports Club.
Taylor believes they could have picked up some priceless lessons from the first match and is hoping for improved performances.
“You have got to apply yourselves in any Test match,” he said.
“If you are going to look at their batters, the way they applied themselves.
“They batted long periods of time, grinded our bowlers down and that’s why they got 400-plus runs. We can learn from that. So it’s back to the drawing board. “I mean, the batters have the technique, they have the ability but mentally I just think we are a little bit soft at the moment and need to find a way to grind through a long period of time.
“Very frustrating. Stuey (Stuart Matsikenyeri), the batting coach, has put in a huge amount of work with the batters and it’s time that we repay the faith. The mindset need to be prepared to bat long periods of time,” said Taylor.
Zimbabwe will also be hopping that opener Prince Masvaure will be fit for the match. The opening batsman was unable to bat in the second innings after picking a soft tissue injury while fielding.