ZIMBABWE FIRST-CLASS CRICKET IN 1997/98

John Ward

INTERNATIONAL RECORD

     Test cricket:
v New Zealand (Home):    Played 2, Won 0, Lost 0, Drawn 2
v Sri Lanka (Away):      Played 2, Won 0, Lost 2, Drawn 0
v New Zealand (Away):    Played 2, Won 0, Lost 2, Drawn 0
v Pakistan (Home):       Played 2, Won 0, Lost 1, Drawn 1
     Total:              Played 8, Won 0, Lost 5, Drawn 3

     One-day international cricket:
v New Zealand (Home):         Played 3, Won 1, Lost 1, Tied 1
PresidentÕs Cup (Kenya):      Played 6, Won 6, Lost 0
v Sri Lanka (Away):           Played 3, Won 0, Lost 3
v New Zealand (Away):         Played 5, Won 1, Lost 4
v Pakistan (Home):            Played 2, Won 0, Lost 2
Quadrangular series (India):  Played 4, Won 0, Lost 4
     Total:                   Played 23, Won 8, Lost 14, Tied 1

Instead the season turned into a nightmare of frustration and disappointment. Zimbabwe's second Test victory and first series victory, confidently expected, were deferred. Victory had been anticipated over the inexperienced New Zealanders at home, but the Zimbabweans dominated the two Tests virtually throughout without being able to finish off the opposition. Zimbabwe appeared to be heading for victory in Sri Lanka, only to have it snatched from their grasp; coach Dave Houghton and the team will believe to their dying day that they were robbed of victory by two umpires who were too afraid of unpleasant repercussions to give decisions in Zimbabwe's favour, and they have ample video evidence to support their case.

This setback so shattered the Zimbabwean morale that a disastrous tour of New Zealand followed. A fighting innings by Grant Flower against Pakistan at home helped to restore morale, and the team returned to its usual image as fighters, but in a losing cause. Then, in line with recent history, the season finished with four fine performances in India which ended in honourable defeat.

It was a season where everything seemed to go wrong. There were several major reasons for Zimbabwe's failure to defeat New Zealand at home. On the New Zealand side, what their team lacked in skill and experience, they made up for in fighting spirit. Even so, without the all-round excellence of Chris Harris, Zimbabwe would surely have won both the Test and the one-day series; his contribution in every match was vital.

The series was also played on fine batting pitches and Zimbabwe lacked the firepower to bowl sides out easily on these. Had Heath Streak been fully recovered from his injuries over the last two years, or Eddo Brandes been properly fit, it would probably have been a different story. Zimbabwe suffered a great deal from injuries to their pace bowlers, and in the end built their attack around the leg-spin of Paul Strang and Adam Huckle, the latter returning home to his native Matabeleland after several years in South Africa. They were backed up by off-spinner Andrew Whittall, who did not play in the Tests, although Houghton in retrospect felt this was a mistake, as the third seamer in both matches did little.

A belated declaration by Zimbabwe in the First Test, followed by the loss of vital time due to bad light, prevented them from bowling out the New Zealanders, who had been set a target of over 400. Unfortunately the New Zealand fightback was sullied by much blatant time-wasting on the final two days, to which the umpires turned a blind eye, and this led to friction between the teams on the field. Both teams, but especially the Zimbabweans, were guilty of excessive frivolous appealing.

In Bulawayo a match which had appeared doomed to be drawn was brought to life by a risky declaration from Zimbabwe's captain Alistair Campbell, in marked contrast to his caution in the First Test. The Zimbabweans had hitherto dominated without taking a firm grip on the game and now, with two leg-spinners used almost throughout, the result was in the balance until the final over. Huckle took eleven wickets in the match, a new record for Zimbabwe.

The first one-day international had looked certain to be won by Zimbabwe until Chris Harris played a remarkable innings and managed to snatch a tie for his team. Zimbabwe looked to have the second match sewn up when they restricted New Zealand to a mere 185, but poor batting meant that only two determined innings by Campbell and Gavin Rennie enabled them to win. New Zealand came out fighting in the third match to put up their best performance of the tour and set a target too high for Zimbabwe to attain, and so drew the series.

This series saw the swansong of Dave Houghton after twenty years in the Zimbabwean side. It was expected at the time that he would at least complete the season, but in the end niggling injuries persuaded him that he would not be fit to tour Sri Lanka, and so he retired rather than try to come back later and deprive a youngster of a place. He also saw in Murray Goodwin, returning to Zimbabwe after a decade in Australia, a capable successor. Houghton appeared to be batting as well as ever, but apparent lapses in concentration frequently cost him his wicket unnecessarily and prevented him from making any notable scores against the New Zealanders. His incisive reading of a game was also noticeably missing on the field at times. However, he was able to continue doing a fine job as coach.

Besides Huckle, Zimbabwe discovered another young player of promise in Gavin Rennie. Rennie at last proved the capable opening partner Grant Flower had been looking for since the retirement of Kevin Arnott, and he had a fine maiden series. Guy Whittall, whose Test place had been in doubt, suddenly came good with the bat and had his best series, including a double-century in the Bulawayo Test -- despite being twice run out backing up by a fortuitous rebound of a straight drive by his partner off the bowlerÕs hand.

The one part of the season where things did go right was the PresidentÕs Cup in Kenya, a limited-overs tournament in Kenya with Bangladesh also playing. These two associate members had recently been awarded full international status for one-day matches. As the only full member of the ICC, Zimbabwe were naturally favourites to win the tournament, but a slip-up at some stage would have been only too easy. As it was, Zimbabwe were aware of the pitfalls and ensured there were no lapses, winning all four of their group matches and the two finals against Kenya.

Strong and consistent batting was Zimbabwe's strength in this tournament, with Andy and Grant Flower and Guy Whittall at the top of the order doing so well that the later batsmen had little opportunity. Surprisingly nobody reached a century, the highest score being an 83 by Whittall. The bowling, without the injured Streak, was not so impressive, although Paul Strang did well throughout and his brother Bryan had a superb spell of six for 20 against Bangladesh, a new best for Zimbabwe in one-day internationals. The fielding, which was not helped by the rough outfields, was not as consistent as usual, and there was still the tendency to allow the oppositionÕs later batsmen to effect a recovery instead of finishing them off. Still, the Zimbabweans felt they had gained good experience in the technique of winning.

The team then set off on a double tour of Sri Lanka and New Zealand with justifiable high hopes. They received a setback in the First Test in Sri Lanka, when they were beaten by eight wickets, but they had gone into that match with very little time to acclimatise. A defensive policy in the first innings against the Sri Lankan spinners failed, and they batted with much more purpose in the second innings when it was too late.

Then came the infamous Second Test, at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo. Zimbabwe dominated this match virtually from the start until the middle of the fourth day. In the second innings, fine batting from the flower brothers, just as had been the case in Zimbabwe's first-ever Test victory, set up the situation for what should have been their second.

The umpires earlier in the match had been subjected to virulent criticism from the press and public for decisions they had made against the home team, and the belief in the Zimbabwean camp was that they were not prepared to give any decision against either of the local heroes, Aravinda de Silva or Arjuna Ranatunga, for fear of reprisals. Video tape evidence backed up the ZimbabweansÕ claims that both batsmen should have been dismissed on more than one occasion early in their innings, but the umpires consistently refused the appeals when the batsmen refused to walk. Had even one of these decisions been given correctly, Zimbabwe would almost certainly have won, as almost 200 more runs were required with only a weak tail to come. As it was, de Silva and Ranatunga were allowed to stay and to see their team through to victory.

Unfortunately, and as usual, no Zimbabwean cricket reporter had been sent with the team. The only reporter able to present Zimbabwe's point of view was Geoffrey Dean of the Daily Telegraph, who did write an article clearly describing how Zimbabwe had been robbed of victory.

Inevitably this setback had a major effect on the Zimbabweans, who had worked so hard and suffered so many frustrations in pursuit of another Test victory, only to have it snatched from them by what they firmly believed were foul means. Despite fighting centuries from Goodwin and Grant Flower, they lost all three matches in the one-day series, even the last against a weakened home side thanks to a superb century by stand-in captain Sanath Jayasuriya.

They then progressed to New Zealand with their spirits at an all-time low. It was an unhappy tour and the players never seemed to acclimatise properly or succeed in applying themselves as whole-heartedly as usual. They were forced to play the first two one-day internationals within days of their arrival, before they had had any reasonable chance to acclimatise, and lost both. The two Tests were both lost heavily, although it was just Zimbabwe's luck that, having won the toss and decided to bat in the Second Test in apparently fine batting conditions, a sudden change in the weather caused the ball to swing all over the place and led to another batting downfall. They managed to pull themselves up again in the third one-day international, to win by one run and keep the series open temporarily, but then lost the last two and the series 4-1.

The teamÕs main weakness was in the batting, as tends to be traditional for Zimbabwean teams whose morale is low. On the slow, seaming New Zealand pitches, where conditions often favour swing, extra vigilance is essential, but so often poor shot selection, concentration and footwork let the team down. A large proportion of wickets lost was to catches at the wicket or in the slips. The lowest point of all was the teamÕs dismissal for 67 against New Zealand A, but at least this shamed the team into an improvement when they beat Canterbury by an innings.

The worst was feared when the team returned home to play the strong Pakistani team under yet another captain, Rashid Latif. The usual internal dissent, this time centred around the past and future captain Wasim Akram who had been dropped for the South African tour which preceded this and then reinstated, prevented them from pulling together, and they also missed the stabilising influence in the middle order of another former captain, Saleem Malik, under a cloud in the on-going bribery scandal.

The turning point in Zimbabwe's fortunes and morale was provided by Grant Flower, who in the First Test in Bulawayo hit a magnificent century, carrying his bat through the innings. Only his brother Andy and Streak gave him much support, but in the following matches the rest of the team batted much more effectively, having been shown the way.

Zimbabwe took a first-innings lead in that match and then set Pakistan 368 to win in a minimum of 105 overs, after Andy Flower and Goodwin had shared a record partnership in the second innings. But, on the usual good pitch and without adequate firepower, they were unable to force home victory.

They also had a good chance of winning the Second Test at Harare, scoring 277 and then reducing Pakistan to 187 for eight. But again they let the opposition off the hook, with Mohammad Wasim, helped by dropped catches, leading a recovery, supported by Mushtaq Ahmed. Pakistan moved to an unconvincing three-wicket victory.

Zimbabwe put up a fight in the two one-day matches, but it was not quite enough. In the first match they were sunk by a misguided selection policy which gave them only four front-line bowlers, and the second-string attack was badly hit around at a crucial stage. In the second match, when all seemed lost, Pakistan pulled a brilliant batting performance out of the bag to win against the odds.

Although Wasim and Waqar bowled superbly in the Tests, they were mastered in the one-day matches. Wasim Mohammad played two fine innings with the bat, but PakistanÕs real hero of the tour, unrecognised even once in Man of the Match awards, was new batsman Yousuf Youhana. In all four matches he played a vital innings at a crucial juncture, and without him Zimbabwe would almost certainly have won both series.

Zimbabwe finished their season by taking part in a triangular one-day tournament in India, with Australia the third team. In all four matches Zimbabwe, in line with their long-standing lack of good fortune and their lack of experience in winning, put up a tremendous fight after being set a difficult target and fell just short; their defeats were by margins of 13, 13, 32 and 16 runs respectively. On the other hand they only once took more than five of their opponentsÕ wickets, making it clear that their bowling was not good enough.

Towards the end of the season ÔPommieÕ Mbangwa made himself into an integral part of the attack. Although only bowling at a medium-fast pace, he proved an ideal partner for Streak with his nagging accuracy and consistency. But the bowling lacked bite without the injured Eddo Brandes, who only appeared in two one-day internationals during the season when he was well below his best. Murray Goodwin immediately established himself at number three when he became eligible to represent the country of his birth in the New Year.

Apart from the tours by New Zealand and Pakistan, the only other first-class cricket played in Zimbabwe during this season was the three-match Logan Cup competition, meaning that once again players on the fringe of the Test team had very little opportunity to develop their skills in the longer game, as only one round of matches was scheduled. The Logan Cup was played at the start of the season to give the leading players preparation for the New Zealand tour, among three times this time, as a second Mashonaland team had wisely been included. But it took a mere eight days, surely an international record for a domestic first-class competition, for the winner to be decided, as the senior Mashonaland team beat both Mashonaland A and Matabeleland by an innings.

The Zimbabwe Board XI, playing in Division 2 of the UCBSA Bowl competition, which was not ranked as first-class, had a typically mediocre season, finishing fourth of the seven teams, winning one (against Free State B) and drawing five of their six matches. They had an exciting draw against Namibia, the bottom team, needing at the end of the match a further four runs with one wicket left.

In the limited opportunities available, Grant Flower finished the season with a creditable batting record, scoring 762 runs at an average of 76.20. He passed 5000 career runs, the only player apart from Houghton to do so in Zimbabwean first-class matches. He was headed in the averages by Murray Goodwin (456 runs at 91.20). The only other batsmen to exceed 400 runs were Andy Flower (585 at 65.00) and Guy Whittall (496 at 49.60).

Adam Huckle was the only bowler to take 20 or more wickets, claiming 22 at an average of 31.31. Next was Bryan Strang, back almost to his best form, with 19 at 18.73; unfortunately a disciplinary matter in Sri Lanka curtailed his international season and put him in bad taste with the authorities. No other bowler took more than 12.

NEW ZEALAND TOUR

At Alexandra Sports Club, Harare; 13, 14, 15 September. NEW ZEALANDERS 174 (M J Horne 35; E Z Matambanadzo 3/44, B C Strang 4/45) and 336/5 (M J Horne 181, S P Fleming 42, N J Astle 33). MASHONALAND 351 (G W Flower 55, D P Viljoen 35, G J Rennie 33, C B Wishart 41, D L Houghton 59, C N Evans 63; S B OÕConnor 3/58). Match drawn.

(1ST TEST) At Harare Sports Club; 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 September. ZIMBABWE 298 (G W Flower 104, G J Whittall 33, P A Strang 42; H T Davis 3/57, C L Cairns 5/50) and 311/9 dec (G J Rennie 57, G W Flower 151; S B OÕConnor 3/73). NEW ZEALAND 207 (S P Fleming 52, A C Parore 42*; B C Strang 3/29) and 304/8 (B A Pocock 52, C M Spearman 33, C L Cairns 71*, A C Parore 51, C Z Harris 41; A G Huckle 3/84). Match drawn.

(2ND TEST) At Queens Sports Club; 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 September. ZIMBABWE 461 (G J Rennie 57, G W Flower 83, A Flower 39, G J Whittall 203*, D L Houghton 32; S B OÕConnor 3/80, C L Cairns 3/97, D L Vettori 4/165) and 227/8 dec (G W Flower 49, G J Whittall 45, A D R Campbell 59*). NEW ZEALAND 403 (C M Spearman 47, N J Astle 96, C Z Harris 71, D L Vettori 90; P A Strang 3/110, A G Huckle 6/109) and 275/8 (B A Pocock 62, S P Fleming 75; A G Huckle 5/146).

(1ST ODI) At Queens Sports Club; 1 October. ZIMBABWE 233/8 (G W Flower 66, A Flower 35, D L Houghton 40). NEW ZEALAND 233/9 (M J Horne 55, C Z Harris 77*). Match tied.

(2ND ODI) At Harare Sports Club; 4 October. NEW ZEALAND 185/7 (N J Astle 36, C D McMillan 38). ZIMBABWE 188/7 (G J Rennie 72, A D R Campbell 77*). Zimbabwe won by three wickets.

(3RD ODI) At Harare Sports Club; 5 October. NEW ZEALAND 294/7 (N J Astle 33, C L Cairns 71, S P Fleming 62, C M McMillan 66; B C Strang 3/66). ZIMBABWE 211 (A Flower 44, G J Whittall 49; D L Vettori 3/41). New Zealand won by 83 runs.

TOUR TO KENYA (One-day internationals)

At Gymkhana Club, Nairobi; 12 October. KENYA 249/8 (D Chadusama 31, K Otieno 87, H Modi 31; P A Strang 3/38). ZIMBABWE 242/4 (A Flower 72, G J Whittall 83, A D R Campbell 47*). Zimbabwe won on faster scoring rate.

At Aga Khan Ground, Nairobi; 14 October. ZIMBABWE 284 (A Flower 70, G J Whittall 52, A D R Campbell 40, C B Wishart 30, P A Strang 33; Shafiuddin 3/42). BANGLADESH 92 (B C Strang 6/20). Zimbabwe won by 192 runs.

At Aga Khan Ground, Nairobi; 16 October. KENYA 207/9 (K Otieno 34, T Odoyo 41, T Suji 67; G J Whittall 3/43). ZIMBABWE 210/3 (G W Flower 71, A flower 66). Zimbabwe won by seven wickets.

(1st Final) At Gymkhana Ground, Nairobi; 18 October. ZIMBABWE 281/8 (G W Flower 69, A Flower 79, A D R Campbell 51; S Tikolo 3/41). KENYA 172/7 (K Otieno 34, M Odumbe 67). Zimbabwe won on faster scoring rate.

(2nd Final) At Gymkhana Ground, Nairobi; 19 October. ZIMBABWE 272/6 (G W Flower 78, G J Rennie 76, C N Evans 48*). KENYA 190 (H Modi 57, A Karim 53*; A R Whittall 3/23, P A Strang 3/37). Zimbabwe won by 82 runs.

TOUR TO SRI LANKA

(1ST TEST) At Kandy; 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 January. SRI LANKA 469 (M S Atapattu 223, P A de Silva 75, H P Tillakaratne 44; P A Strang 3/123, A R Whittall 3/73) and 10/0. ZIMBABWE 140 (G A Rennie 53, P A Strang 35; M Muralitharan 5/23, K J Silva 3/27) and 338 (G W Flower 38, M W Goodwin 70, A Flower 67, A D R Campbell 40, P A Strang 33; M Muralitharan 7/94). Sri Lanka won by eight wickets.

(2ND TEST) At Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo; 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 January. ZIMBABWE 251 (G J Rennie 50, G W Flower 41, M W Goodwin 73, A D R Campbell 44; S D Anurasiri 3/65) and 299 (G W Flower 52, A Flower 105*, A D R Campbell 37; M Muralitharan 3/73). SRI LANKA 225 (M S Atapattu 48, A Ranatunga 52, R S Kaluwitharana 51; P A Strang 4/77) and 325/5 (S T Jayasuriya 68, P A de Silva 143*, A Ranatunga 87*; H H Streak 4/84). Sri Lanka won by five wickets.

(Not first-class) At Moratuwa; 20 January. ZIMBABWEANS 244/6 (G W Flower 37, A Flower 67, M W Goodwin 41, C B Wishart 37). SRI LANKA BOARD XI 245/6 (S T Jayasuriya 55, D P M Jayawardene 87*). Sri Lanka Board XI won by four wickets.

(1ST ODI) At Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo; 22 January. ZIMBABWE 207 (G W Flower 40, G J Whittall 52, A D R Campbell 36, C B Wishart 41; U D U Chandana 4/31). SRI LANKA 210/5 (S T Jayasuriya 47, R S Mahanama 39, A Ranatunga 58*). Sri Lanka won by five wickets.

(2ND ODI) At R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo; 24 January. ZIMBABWE 212/8 (G W Flower 51, M W Goodwin 111). SRI LANKA 213/5 (S T Jayasuriya 50, M S Atapattu 45, R S Mahanama 52, A Ranatunga 43). Sri Lanka won by five wickets.

(3RD ODI) At Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo; 26 January. ZIMBABWE 281/6 (G W Flower 112, C B Wishart 45, A Flower 68; H D P K Dharmasena 3/47). SRI LANKA 286/6 (S T Jayasuriya 102, D P M Jayawardene 74, R S Kalpage 37). Sri Lanka won by four wickets.

TOUR TO NEW ZEALAND

(1ST ODI) At Hamilton; 4 February. NEW ZEALAND 248/7 (N J Astle 49, C L Cairns 43, C Z Harris 52*; P A Strang 3/40). ZIMBABWE 208 (G W Flower 32, C B Wishart 37, A Flower 60; D L Vettori 4/49). New Zealand won by 40 runs.

(2ND ODI) At Wellington; 6 February. ZIMBABWE 138 (G J Whittall 31, D P Viljoen 36; S B OÕConnor 5/39). NEW ZEALAND 139/2 (N J Astle 67, A C Parore 36*). New Zealand won by eight wickets.

At Dunedin; 8, 9, 10 February. ZIMBABWEANS 67 (C J Drum 4/18, A R Tait 5/16) and 195 (M W Goodwin 78; C J Drum 5/65, H T Davis 3/50). NEW ZEALAND A 271/8 dec (M D Bell 50, C M Spearman 76, R G Twose 69; M Mbangwa 4/49). New Zealand A won by an innings and 9 runs.

At Timaru; 13, 14, 15, 16 February. CANTERBURY 100 (P A Strang 4/20) and 266 (C D Cumming 86, H T G James 50, S J Pawson 36; P A Strang 3/38). ZIMBABWEANS 422/8 dec (G W Flower 64, A D R Campbell 196, P A Strang 93). Zimbabweans won by an innings and 56 runs.

(1ST TEST) At Wellington; 19, 20, 21, 22 February. ZIMBABWE 180 (G W Flower 38, A D R Campbell 37, H H Streak 39; S B OÕConnor 4/52) and 250 (M W Goodwin 72, A D R Campbell 56, H H Streak 43*; C L Cairns 4/56, D L Vettori 3/73). NEW ZEALAND 411 (M J Horne 44, A C Parore 78, S P Fleming 36, N J Astle 42, C D McMillan 139, D J Nash 41; P A Strang 3/126, A G Huckle 3/102) and 20/0. New Zealand won by ten wickets.

(2ND TEST) At Auckland; 26, 27, 28 February. ZIMBABWE 170 (A Flower 65, P A Strang 30*; S B Doull 4/35, C L Cairns 3/56, D J Nash 3/41) and 277 (G W Flower 32, A Flower 83, P A Strang 67*; S B Doull 4/50, C L Cairns 3/81). NEW ZEALAND 460 (M J Horne 157, N J Astle 114, C M McMillan 88; H H Streak 3/105, M Mbangwa 3/78, P A Strang 4/54). New Zealand won by an innings and 13 runs.

(3RD ODI) At Christchurch; 4 March. ZIMBABWE 228/7 (M W Goodwin 58, A D R Campbell 38, G J Whittall 50). NEW ZEALAND 227/9 (L G Howell 68, N J Astle 69; P A Strang 3/44). Zimbabwe won by 1 run.

(4TH ODI) At Napier; 6 March. ZIMBABWE 207/8 (C B Wishart 41, A Flower 30, P A Strang 31*; D J Nash 3/29). NEW ZEALAND 211/1 (L G Howell 66, N J Astle 104*, S P Fleming 33*). New Zealand won by nine wickets.

(5TH ODI) At Auckland; 8 March. NEW ZEALAND 231/9 (N J Astle 62, C Z Harris 54*; P A Strang 3/44). ZIMBABWE 229/7 (G W Flower 55, A D R Campbell 30; D L Vettori 3/30). New Zealand won by 2 runs.

PAKISTAN TOUR

(1ST TEST) At Queens Sports Club; 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 March. ZIMBABWE 321 (G W Flower 156*, A Flower 44, H H Streak 53; Waqar Younis 5/106, Azhar Mahmood 3/56) and 302/4 dec (M W Goodwin 166*, A Flower 100*). PAKISTAN 256 (Saeed Anwar 33, Yousuf Youhana 60, Rashid Latif 31, Saqlain Mushtaq 34; G J Whittall 4/63, P A Strang 3/54) and 258/6 (Saeed Anwar 37, Yousuf Youhana 64, Moin Khan 97; H H Streak 3/42). Match drawn.

(2ND TEST) At Harare Sports Club; 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 March. ZIMBABWE 277 (G W Flower 39, M W Goodwin 53, G J Whittall 62, B C Strang 53; Waqar Younis 4/47) and 268 (M W Goodwin 81, A Flower 49, H H Streak 37*; Wasim Akram 3/70, Azhar Mahmood 3/26). PAKISTAN 354 (Mohammad Wasim 192, Mushtaq Ahmed 57; M Mbangwa 3/56, B C Strang 3/65, G J Whittall 3/78) and 192/7 (Saeed Anwar 65, Yousuf Youhana 52). Pakistan won by three wickets.

(1ST ODI) At Harare Sports Club; 28 March. ZIMBABWE 236/6 (G W Flower 32, A D R Campbell 36, M W Goodwin 35, G J Whittall 42, H H Streak 48*). PAKISTAN 237/6 (Aamer Sohail 77, Ijaz Ahmed 43, Yousuf Youhana 59*, Shahid Afridi 30). Pakistan won by four wickets.

(2ND ODI) At Harare Sports Club; 29 March. ZIMBABWE 272/4 (G W Flower 81, M W Goodwin 47, G J Whittall 53*). PAKISTAN 276/6 (Shahid Afridi 32, Mohammad Wasim 76, Yousuf Youhana 66, Mohammad Hussain 31*). Pakistan won by four wickets.

TOUR TO INDIA (Triangular One-Day Series)

At Baroda; 5 April. INDIA 274/5 (S C Ganguly 82, V G Kambli 39, A D Jadeja 79*, H H Kanitkar 35). ZIMBABWE 261 (G W Flower 57, A D R Campbell 60, C N Evans 46; R Sanghvi 3/29). India won by 13 runs.

At Cuttack; 9 April. INDIA 301/3 (M Azharuddin 153*, A D Jadeja 116*). ZIMBABWE 269 (G W Flower 102, M W Goodwin 47, H H Streak 30). India won by 32 runs.

At Delhi; 11 April. AUSTRALIA 294/3 (M E Waugh 87, R T Ponting 145, M G Bevan 33*). ZIMBABWE 279/9 (G W Flower 89, M W Goodwin 46, A Flower 73). Australia won by 16 runs.

TEST MATCH RECORDS DURING 1997/98
    (* = Test debut; + = final matches of career.)

BATTING AND FIELDING
                    M    I  NO   Runs   HS     Av.   100  50   Ct/St
*M W Goodwin        6   12   1   606   166*   55.09    1   5    5
G W Flower          8   16   1   816   156*   54.40    3   2    4
A Flower            8   16   2   612   105*   43.71    2   3   20/1
G J Whittall        7   13   1   430   203*   35.83    1   1    5
A D R Campbell      8   16   1   415    59*   27.66    -   2   12
*G J Rennie         7   14   0   341    57    24.35    -   4    7
P A Strang          7   13   2   242    67*   22.00    -   1    6
H H Streak          8   15   2   254    53    19.53    -   1    2
J A Rennie          1    2   0    38    22    19.00    -   -    1
B C Strang          4    8   2   106    53    17.66    -   1    3
+D L Houghton       2    4   0    69    32    17.25    -   -    2
A R Whittall        5   10   2    66    17     8.25    -   -    5
C B Wishart         2    4   0    23    18     5.75    -   -    -
*T N Madondo        2    3   0    16    14     5.33    -   -    -
E Z Matambanadzo    1    1   0     4     4     4.00    -   -    -
*A G Huckle         6   11   2    32    19     3.55    -   -    2
M Mbangwa           5    9   2     9     4     1.28    -   -    1
*D P Viljoen        1    2   0     0     0     0.00    -   -    1


BOWLING
                    Overs  Mdns  Runs  Wkts   Av.     Best  5wI  10wM
D P Viljoen           3.3    0    14    1    14.00    1/14    -   -
M Mbangwa           154     62   336   13    25.84    3/56    -   -
H H Streak          276     68   784   25    31.36    4/84    -   -
A G Huckle          233.2   47   769   22    34.95    6/109   2   1
P A Strang          236.2   80   875   25    35.00    4/54    -   -
B C Strang          142.5   53   319    8    39.87    3/29    -   -
G J Whittall        137.5   30   385    9    42.77    4/63    -   -
A R Whittall        131     25   340    4    85.00    3/73    -   -
E Z Matambanadzo     17      4    66    0      --      --     -   -
M W Goodwin          15.5    3    53    0      --      --     -   -
G W Flower           14      3    32    0      --      --     -   -
J A Rennie           11      2    37    0      --      --     -   -
A D R Campbell        2      0    13    0      --      --     -   -


CONSOLIDATED ONE-DAY INTERNATIONAL RECORDS DURING 1997/98
     (* = ODI debuts; + = final matches of career)

                    M    I  NO   Runs   HS     Av.   100  50   Ct/St
G W Flower         23   23   0  1121   112    48.73    2  10    4
A Flower           23   23   0   801    81    34.82    -   8   15/7
A D R Campbell     23   23   3   688   103    34.40    1   3    9
H H Streak         14   14   8   205    48*   34.16    -   -    4
M W Goodwin        14   14   0   467   111    33.35    1   2    3
G J Whittall       23   23   3   666    83    33.30    -   6    5
G J Rennie         10   10   1   253    76    28.11    -   2    5
G B Brent           1    1   0    24    24    24.00    -   -    -
C B Wishart        17   14   1   292    45    22.46    -   -    7
P A Strang         21   17   7   213    33    21.30    -   -    7
D L Houghton        3    3   0    45    40    15.00    -   -    -
J A Rennie         11    8   4    58    23*   14.50    -   -    5
C N Evans          15   12   1   151    48*   13.72    -   -    7
D P Viljoen         6    5   0    61    36    12.20    -   -    -
A R Whittall       20    9   4    36    14*    7.20    -   -    7
B C Strang          6    3   0    21    15     7.00    -   -    2
E A Brandes         2    2   1     5     4*    5.00    -   -    1
A G Huckle         11    5   3     7     5*    3.50    -   -    2
M Mbangwa           9    5   1    13     8     3.25    -   -    2
E Z Matambanadzo    1    -   -    --    --      --     -   -    -


BOWLING
                    Overs  Mdns  Runs  Wkts   Av.     Best  4wI
B C Strang           53      5   229   13    17.61    6/20    1
P A Strang          153      9   578   26    22.23    3/37    -
E Z Matambanadzo      5      0    24    1    24.00    1/24    -
G W Flower           92.3    0   449   16    28.06    2/6     -
D P Viljoen          32      0   134    4    33.50    2/31    -
M W Goodwin          13.4    0    74    2    37.00    1/13    -
G J Whittall         98      4   572   15    38.13    3/43    -
H H Streak          112      2   566   13    43.53    2/36    -
A R Whittall        176.2    7   753   17    44.29    3/23    -
C N Evans            79.4    2   423    9    47.00    2/27    -
J A Rennie           81      3   435    7    62.14    2/47    -
M Mbangwa            78.3    5   383    6    63.83    2/24    -
A G Huckle           81      3   402    2   201.00    2/27    -
E A Brandes          13      0    70    0      --      --     -
G B Brent             5      0    26    0      --      --     -
A D R Campbell        3      0    26    0      --      --     -

LOGAN CUP MATCHES

At Old Hararians Sports Club, Harare; 4, 5 September. MASHONALAND 307 (G W Flower 89, A Flower 116; J A Rennie 3/33, A R Whittall 3/52, A G Huckle 3/77). MATABELELAND 129 (H H Streak 61*; E Z Matambanadzo 3/27, B C Strang 5/49) and 142 (G J Whittall 42, H H Streak 41). Mashonaland won by an innings and 36 runs.

At Bulawayo Athletic Club; 23, 24, 25 October. MASHONALAND A 312 (T G Bartlett 33, M W Goodwin 78, T L Penney 76, K J Davies 43; J A Rennie 9/76) and 279/5 dec (M A Vermeulen 35, T G Bartlett 40, M W Goodwin 78, T L Penney 44*, D J R Campbell 32*). MATABELELAND 300/7 dec (J R Craig 76, M D Abrams 34, H H Streak 81; K A Burki 3/24) and 277/9 (G J Whittall 61, J A Rennie 64, A R Whittall 39; A M Blignaut 3/56). Match drawn.