Close Pakistan 295 for 5 (Youhana 116*, Younis 52, Olonga 3-49) lead Zimbabwe 178 by 117 runs
Scorecard

Pakistan took control of the second Test after an attritional day's play at Bulawayo. They scored 260 runs in 92 overs for the loss of five wickets, with Yousuf Youhana making 116 not out, his 10th Test century, to give them the edge. They lead Zimbabwe by 117 with five first-innings wickets remaining, and a clean sweep of the short series is there for the taking.

The crucial partnership came from Youhana and Younis Khan, who patiently added 127 for the fourth wicket in 51 overs, having come together with Pakistan in a spot of bother at 82 for 3. That was after Salim Elahi and Taufeeq Umar put on 63 for the first wicket, before both went in successive Henry Olonga overs. Elahi, driving away from his body, dragged on for 27, his highest score in 14 Test innings outside Pakistan. And six balls later, Taufeeq tried to pull one from outside off stump and was caught behind for 34 (64 for 2).

Inzamam-ul-Haq smashed a couple of boundaries but was bowled for 11 heaving at a quicker ball from left-arm spinner Ray Price. Price bowled thriftily, taking 1 for 82 from 39 overs, but could not penetrate as Saqlain Mushtaq had on the first day, when he decimated Zimbabwe with 7 for 66.

It was slow going for much of the afternoon. Younis in particular was nowhere near his fluent best, and was dropped by Alistair Campbell off Grant Flower on 46. He had stumbled to 52 off 169 balls when he finally fell, lbw trying to work Andy Blignaut to leg (209 for 4).

Youhana, who might have been run out early on but for a misfield from the substitute Blessing Mahwire, reached a sedate 50 off 124 balls and then went straight from first gear to fourth with a series of emphatic boundaries: he only needed a further 74 balls to reach his ninth Test hundred since the turn of the century. In the same period of time, only the incomparable Matthew Hayden has made more. It was not a chanceless innings: Youhana was counting his blessings when Mahwire dropped a sitter at mid-off when he had made 88.

Three overs later Pakistan did lose their fifth wicket, when Hasan Raza inexplicably shouldered arms to a straight one from Olonga and was bowled for 4 (225 for 5), but Youhana, who went past 3000 Test runs, and the young wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal upped the tempo to add an unbroken 70 in the last 15 overs of the day. Zimbabwe were flagging at the finish, and they will need something special, probably from Andy Flower, if they are to have a chance in this match.

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