OWN CORRESPONDENT, Harare | Thursday 7.00pm
JUST under four and a half hours were lost as thunderstorms severely restricted play on the first day of the second cricket Test in Harare between Zimbabwe and South Africa.
In the 94 minutes of play, Zimbabwe could only score 48-3, having been put in to bat by South African captain Hansie Cronje on a wicket that offered plenty of movement for the quick bowlers.
The seaming wicket claimed it’s first wicket very quickly indeed.
Lance Klusener replaced Allan Donald, who bowled just two overs, and with the last ball of his first over claimed the wicket of Grant Flower for five runs.
Three balls later, Shaun Pollock bowled Trevor Gripper and Zimbabwe were struggling on 6/2. The unfortunate gripper played at a delivery that kept lower than anticipated and the ball defelected onto his stumps.
Murray Goodwin (17) and Neil Johnson (18 not out) then got some respectability back into the Zimbabwe innings until play was cancelled due to bad light.
The players were hardly off the field when the rain bucketed down, leaving the players in the pavilion for three hours.
Goodwin was the first to go when the Zimbabweans resumed, and he went rather softly, gifting one to Hansie Cronje at third slip, less than two overs into the shortened second session.
Next to face the music was caretaker skipper Andy Flower (two not out) and he and former Natalian and World Cup hero Johnson stood firm amid some agressive bowling by Pollock and Donald.
The batting was pedestrian to say the least and the pair only managed to put on only 16 runs from lunch at a rate of 1,5 per over.
As the players left the field for the tea break the rain started again, and the covers were replaced.
The two teams lined up on either side of the pitch before play to observe a minute’s silence in memory of West Indian fast bowler Malcolm Marshall, who died of colon cancer last week.
The South Africans wore black armbands, as did Zimbabwean all-rounder Johnson, who played for Natal during Marshall’s four-season stint with the province.
10