Close Zimbabwe 225 and 19 for 1 need another 411 runs to beat Pakistan 285 and 369 (Inzamam-ul-Haq 112, Taufeeq Umar 111, Olonga 5-93)
Scorecard

Contrasting hundreds from Inzamam-ul-Haq and Taufeeq Umar put Pakistan in sight of victory at the end of the third day's play in the first Test at Harare Sports Club. Inzamam unleashed a brutal run-a-ball onslaught which shifted the balance of the match inside a session, while Taufeeq ground down the bowlers in an innings which often appeared to have lost all momentum. Both in their own way were equally effective.

After two days during which the ball had dominated over bat, Inzamam took the attack to the bowlers from his first ball and smashed 112 in a little over two hours, including 19 fours and a six. This not only put Pakistan on course for winning this match but also helped banish the demons of Sharjah and the ill-fated Australian series.

Inzamam was at his belligerent best. He launched into the gentle Zimbabwean attack from the off, hitting out as if he had arrived in the final overs of a one-dayer. His intentions were clear, and while his all-out attack gave Zimbabwe a chance, he struck the ball so hard and so cleanly that it was as much as they could do to keep him off the strike.

Inzamam was particularly savage on anything short, and over half his fours came from savage cuts. He whizzed past a career tally of 6000 Test runs, and brought up his hundred – all made in the morning session - by cracking Blessing Mahwire to the cover boundary with a shot that typified his innings. The end came shortly after lunch when another cut was well caught by Grant Flower at backward point off Henry Olonga (205 for 3).

Taufeeq began the day brightly, but retreated further into his shell with every Inzamam blow. Once their 183-run third-wicket stand (made in less than 33 overs) was ended he became becalmed, adding just 27 runs between lunch and tea.

Inzamam's demise kick-started a brief Zimbabwean rally. Yousuf Youhana edged Andy Blignaut to Tatenda Taibu for 0 (207 for 4), then Hasan Raza lofted an airy waft off Ray Price to Blignaut for a laborious 11 (238 for 6). But with the scoring rate dropping to below one an over, Kamran Akmal, on a pair on his debut, took the attack to the tiring bowlers while Taufeeq remorselessly crawled towards his second Test hundred, to follow the one he made on debut against Bangladesh.

Akmal was bowled by Price after contributing 38 to a sixth-wicket stand of 54 (292 for 6), and then Taufeeq's marathon six-hour innings finally ended when he edged Blignaut to Taibu for 111 (318 for 7). The last two wickets added 69, but by then Zimbabwe had been batted out of the game. Henry Olonga wrapped up the innings, giving him his second five-for in Tests.

There was time for four overs before bad light ended play early, and Zimbabwe's slim hopes of victory became even more remote when Hamilton Masakadza fell to Shoaib Akhtar for 0 in the second over (4 for 1).

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