Shaheen, Hasan claim four wickets each to clean up Zimbabwe for 176

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Pacers Hasan Ali and Shaheen Afridi bagged four wickets each as Zimbabwe were bowled out for 176 after opting to bat first against Pakistan in the first Test in Harare.

Zimbabwe batsmen started positively after lunch as Milton Shumba smashed Shaheen Afridi for two boundaries in his first over after the first session.

Shumba, who was dropped on zero by Babar, made full use of the opportunity and continued to rotate strike, bringing up a fifty partnership with his fellow debutant Roy Kaia.

Shumba was living a charmed life as he was dropped again on 27, with Babar Azam being the culprit again. However, a mix-up in the middle brought an end to Shumba’s stays as he departed for 27.

At the other end, Kaia was looking solid as he made use of the sweep to counter the spin threat from Pakistan. He found an able ally in Regis Chakabva, who accelerated the Zimbabwe innings.

With Kaia well-set on 48, Hasan Ali put a trap in place for the debutant which worked perfectly. Hasan bowled three bouncers on the trot to induce Kaia to hook towards the fielder was placed at deep square leg. The right-arm pacer then surprised the debutant with a yorker and trapped him lbw.

Hasan quickly picked his fourth wicket as Chakabva tried to drive a full delivery from the pacer but was caught at slip by Imran Butt for 19.

Shaheen Afridi picked up his 50th Test wicket as he bowled Tendai Chisoro for 9, leaving Zimbabwe eight down.

Blessing Muzarabani tried to attack every ball and was eventually cleaned up by a Yorker from Shaheen Afridi for 17.

Donald Tiripano, who scored 95 against Afghanistan a month ago, continued his rich vein of form with bat to play a  crucial unbeaten 28-run knock to take Zimbabwe to 176, before Shaheen clean bowled Richard Ngarava for 1 .

Earlier, Pakistan took full advantage of the morning conditions as they reduced Zimbabwe to 59/4 at the end of first session on day one.

Hasan Ali struck for Pakistan in his first over as he removed Kevin Kasuza for a duck. The right-hand opener dragged the ball on to his stumps, leaving Zimbabwe one down without any runs on the scoreboard.

Prince Masvaure got his first runs through an outside edge which ran past slips for a boundary. Shaheen Afridi kept probing away at Masvaure by bowling at off side channel, with the opener pushing away constantly with hard hands.

The left-arm pacer was finally rewarded after an edge from Masvaure’s bat finally went straight into the hands of Imran Butt at second slip. The left-hander departed for 11, with Zimbabwe having lost both their openers for 18.

The pressure was brewing on Zimbabwe batsmen as they played eight maidens in a row from the sixth till 14th over.

Tarisai Musakanda broke the shackles in the 16th over as he dispatched Nauman Ali for a six over wide long-on.

Nauman got his revenge in the next over as he went past Musakanda’s defense to rattle the stumps. The right-hander departed after scoring 14.

Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor followed Musakanda soon as he tried to push very hard, away from his body, to a full ball from Hasan Ali and was caught at slip by Faheem Ashraf for five.