The remarkable Andy Flower hit yet another fifty as Zimbabwe declared theirinnings closed at 419 against South Africa just before the close of thethird day at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo
John Ward16-Sep-2001The remarkable Andy Flower hit yet another fifty as Zimbabwe declared theirinnings closed at 419 against South Africa just before the close of thethird day at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. However, only some unusuallygood or bad play by one of the teams can bring about a result in this matchon a benign pitch.Play began 30 minutes early in an effort to make up for lost time after thecomplete washout of the second day’s play. The weather was still overcastbut at least the strong frigid wind had gone; by lunchtime the sky wasfinally clear again. Hamilton Masakadza and Stuart Carlisle, the batsmen inpossession, played positively from the start. Masakadza had just hooked Nelsuperbly for four when he drove at a leg-cutter from the same bowler, to becaught at the wicket by Mark Boucher for 13.Flower began as if he had been batting all week – which he virtuallyhad – taking just eight balls to reach double figures. It took over an hourbefore Claude Henderson was given a belated bowl, and immediately he got theball to turn sharply. Carlisle, struggling against the spin, became almosta sleeping partner, contributing only 12 runs when the fifty partnershipcame up, as Flower again held court. He scored mainly through well-judgedpushes and nudges through gaps in the field, but when South Africa finallydecided to bowl very straight at him, as he entered the forties, theymanaged to restrict his scoring temporarily.Yet another fifty, his 12th in his last 15 innings, came off 79 balls. Oneunusual aspect of it was his faulty running between wickets, normally verygood, but in this session he had four narrow escapes, the third only becauseMark Boucher dropped the ball as he swept the bails off.Flower fell soon after lunch for 67 in uncharacteristic fashion: hequite misjudged a ball from Henderson that kicked viciously off the pitch,and lobbed up off the glove to give silly mid-off the easiest of catches.Zimbabwe were 261 for four.Grant Flower, with several unsuccessful Tests behind him, obviously decidedthat there was nothing to lose by being positive, and was soon catching upCarlisle, who occasionally surprised with a sparkling stroke, such as aswept six off Henderson when he was 40. Then came a mix-up in mid-pitch,which resulted in Flower (44) slipping and failing to beat the throw fromJacques Kallis; 327 for five.Carlisle failed to reach his fifty, adjudged lbw to Pollock for 49 off 201balls, although the camera seemed to reveal a thin inside edge. Althoughthe slow pitch and the now heavy outfield made scoring difficult, hisinnings was slower than Zimbabwe would have liked, with time at a premium.Heath Streak scored a single off his first 24 balls before he suddenlyhammered Henderson for six into the top of the sightscreen. Guy Whittall on8 appeared to be brilliantly caught by Pollock at slip of Henderson, butumpire John Hampshire called for decision by camera, which was inconclusive,leading to a decision of “not out”. Streak went on to record a powerful 31before skying Henderson into the off-side field. Without addition Whittall(16), who never really settled, was caught attempting a reverse sweep atHenderson; Zimbabwe 377 for eight.Paul Strang hit brightly on his return to Test cricket, mainly throughpulling the short balls, and the 400 came up in the 176th over. Shaun Pollockmoved a ball back in to bowl Travis Friend (4), the first batsman of the innings tofail to reach double figures. Streak declared shortly afterwards withZimbabwe 419 for nine; Strang was unbeaten with 38 off 28 balls, with twosixes and four fours. Henderson bowled 66 overs in the innings, a recordagainst Zimbabwe, including an unbroken spell of 38 overs at one stage,conceding 143 runs (29 off his last three overs) and taking four wickets.The South African openers found little difficulty in the Zimbabwean paceattack, and after seven overs Streak brought on Strang, and then RaymondPrice. Price came very close to dismissing Gary Kirsten lbw, but the batsmenheld out until the close, when Herschelle Gibbs had 15 and Kirsten 11.