da casino： Justin Langer, after struggling for runs in Sri Lanka, welcomedthe opportunity to get some batting practice in less testingconditions in Bulawayo, scoring a fine 148 to dominate theAustralians’ total of 335 for seven wickets declared against the
John Ward09-Oct-1999Day 1:Justin Langer, after struggling for runs in Sri Lanka, welcomedthe opportunity to get some batting practice in less testingconditions in Bulawayo, scoring a fine 148 to dominate theAustralians’ total of 335 for seven wickets declared against theZCU President’s XI. The home side should have done considerablybetter against the unacclimatised tourists, but spoilt theirperformance with a poor display in the field, several chancesbeing missed.The Australians had arrived in Bulawayo to find unseasonablywintry conditions facing them: overcast skies and an icy wind,almost unknown for Bulawayo in traditionally the hottest month ofthe year. The match day dawned similarly, but fortunately soonafter eight in the morning the skies began to clear and normalOctober service was resumed. The crowd, if it can be so termed,gradually swelled during the day until it reached severalhundred. Press facilities at Queens unfortunately remainprimitive, the media being housed in a decrepit old commentarybox without proper telephone lines. However we are assured thata proper press box is next on the list of ground development.Eddo Brandes won the toss for the President’s XI and, hopeful ofsome early life, the only concession the Queens Sports Club pitchusually makes to bowlers, put the tourists in to bat. He openedthe bowling with John Rennie, but was unable to trouble thebatsmen at first. Michael Slater began by pulling a four throughmidwicket, and in Brandes’ next over pulled and cut boundariesoff consecutive balls. He hooked again at a bouncer outside offstump, but a confident appeal for a catch at the wicket wasrejected. Brandes then began to appreciate the folly of bowlingshort to Australians and pitched the ball further up, as Renniedid from the start, and the scoring rate dropped. Greg Blewettled a less spectacular life than Slater, but hit a superb fouroff Brandes through extra cover. Rennie caused both batsmen toplay with care, swinging the ball predominantly in to theright-hander.Slater was first to go, lashing at a ball from Rennie outside offstump without getting over it and lofting a catch to StuartCarlisle at backward point. He made 18, all off Brandes, and theAustralians were now 33 for one. Justin Langer was off the markimmediately, pushing a ball to leg for a single. Pommie Mbangwa,omitted from the Test team through supposed lack of form,replaced Brandes and immediately dropped on to a length. For awhile Rennie and Mbangwa restricted the batsmen largely to theodd pushed single. Langer, looking a little desperate, slashedMbangwa uppishly and just wide of Mark Vermeulen at second slip,recording a fortuitous boundary.Finally, however, the batsmen decided they were well enoughsettled and began to hit a series of fine boundaries. Langer hitRennie twice most impressively through the covers, while Blewettdrove Mbangwa well until he tried it once too often, found theoutside edge, and was well caught low down to his left at secondslip by Vermeulen. He scored 25, and the score was 64 for two.Mark Waugh took 13 balls of caution before getting off the markwith a quick single into the covers off Mbangwa. The batsmenthen concentrated on pushing for ones and twos, apart from a fourby Langer through extra cover off a Brandes full toss, and asimilar shot in the following over off a half-volley. Then atthe other end he drove Mbangwa to the extra cover boundary -clearly his favourite stroke. The hundred came up just beforelunch when a thick inside edge from Waugh off Brandes beat thekeeper on its way to the boundary. At last he seemed to findsome timing with a neat flick to the midwicket boundary, and thescore at the interval was 110 for two off 34 overs, with Langeron 46 and Waugh 20.In the second over after lunch the President’s XI missed thechance of a vital breakthrough when Waugh, still not timing theball, pushed at a delivery from Rennie outside the off stump andwicket-keeper Bruce Moore-Gordon dropped a straight-forwardcatch. Waugh was on 21 at the time. Langer reached his fifty,off 71 balls, with his first airborne stroke, a lofted straightdrive off left-arm spinner Ray Price. He celebrated it with amassive six swung over midwicket, but then went strangely quietfor a while. Waugh began to look more confident, and thatdropped chance may do Australia a big favour for the Test matchnext week. An on-drive off an overpitched ball from Price tookhim to his fifty. Soon afterwards the century partnership cameand went.Mbangwa returned to the fray, but was not quite as accurate asusual, and Waugh simply waited for the bad delivery and thenpunished it. Price was also proving expensive, although findingsome turn in the pitch, and Langer hit him back over his head forsix. Both batsmen were on 63 when afternoon drinks came, andWaugh had not added to this score when he tried to hit Price backover his head, only to lob a catch to backward point TrevorMadondo off the outside edge. The score was now 192 for three, astand of 128.Steve Waugh got off the mark with another chance to the keeper,although a very hard one this time, an inside edge off Price. Ittook him a while to find his touch, but then he began to use hisfeet to the spinners and drive straight. A straight drive offoff-spinner Trevor Gripper took Langer to 99, and then a singleswatted to extra cover brought him his century. It came off 152balls, the first first-class century of the Zimbabwean season.Waugh pushed on with the runs, hitting several classic straightfours with an occasional four, before he pushed back a sharpreturn catch to Gripper, who juggled once then held it, a notablefirst victim in first-class cricket. Waugh had made 27, and theAustralians were 237 for four.The scoring rate thereupon slowed, with both batsmen content toplay for the tea interval. Ponting had a lucky escape on 5,snicking a ball between the keeper and first slip, neither ofwhom was quick enough to make more than a token grasp at it. Attea the score was 251 for four, with Langer on 108 and Ponting 8.Moore-Gordon’s miserable day behind the stumps continued whenLanger, on 121, was stranded well down the pitch to Price and hefailed to gather the ball for the stumping. Ponting became thefourth Australian batsman of the innings to make a start but failto build on it when, on 24, he drove at Mbangwa, armed with thesecond new ball, and edged a catch to Brandes at first slip. TheAustralians were now 286 for five.Langer appeared to be seeing the ball better the longer hestayed, and now began to develop his strokes through midwicket,and occasionally over, as when he flicked Mbangwa beautifullyover the boundary in that direction. He had another escape on139, when he drove to mid-off and was put down off astraight-forward chance. Ian Healy made his first excursion intodouble figures for some time, hitting a couple of thumping foursthrough extra cover.Langer finally fell for 148, trying a lofted straight hit offRennie but skying it over mid-off. Doug Marillier, running back,took a fine tumbling catch to reduce the Australians to 326 forsix. Langer faced 233 balls and hit 13 fours and 2 sixes. ShaneWarne did not last long, also trying to hit Rennie over his headbut skying the ball to mid-off this time, where Greg Lamb tookthe catch. He scored only a single, and the seventh Australianwicket had fallen at 335. At this point Steve Waugh declared histeam’s innings closed. Only five extras were conceded in theinnings, an example of the home side’s naivety in an era whenteams are apparently expected to concede at least 10% of theiropponents’ total in extras! Healy was left unbeaten on 25, andmight well have benefited from extra batting practice.Gripper and Marillier began with some caution against GlennMcGrath and Damien Fleming, two bowlers the quality of which theyhad rarely faced before. Marillier was first to go, with only asingle to his credit; he flashed at the first ball he faced fromMcGrath and snicked an easy catch to Healy behind the stumps.The President’s XI were 3 for one wicket.Gripper and Vermeulen continued the struggle, and at times it wasdifficult to see where the next run was coming from. Vermeulenon 6 enjoyed a life when Healy missed a very difficult insideedge down the leg side. Runs came from pushes and nudges untilthe more erratic Matthew Nicholson came on to bowl, and Vermeulencut him for three to third man before Gripper turned twos pastmidwicket and square leg. At the close the President’s XI were25 for one, with Gripper on 7 and Vermeulen 9. The two batsmenhad done well to battle it through calmly and sensibly, and livedto fight another day.