Zimbabwe vs Pakistan, 2nd Test: Statistical Preview - Player records and approaching milestones

Pakistan and Zimbabwe are set to clash in the second Test of the two-match series to be played at Harare Sports Club, Harare. The visitors won the first game of the series by a comfortable margin of innings and 116 runs. Hasan Ali, Fawad Alam, Imran Butt and Shaheen Afridi were instrumental in helping their team win the first match.

The hosts would be looking for a win in the second game to draw the series while Pakistan’s eyes will be on a white-wash. Zimbabwe failed in all the departments in their clash and have been hit by lack of experience as well. Pakistan had earlier won the three-match T20I series by 2-1.

Let’s look at important stats and numbers before the start of the second Test between Zimbabwe vs Pakistan:

Head to Head record: Both teams have so far played 18 matches in Test cricket of which 11 have been won by Pakistan while Zimbabwe have won just 3 games. Apart from this, 4 Test matches have ended up in a draw.

2013 – Pakistan last lost a Test match to Zimbabwe in 2013. They lost the Harare Test that year by a margin of only 24 runs under the captaincy of Misbah-ul-Haq.

146 – Mohammad Rizwan is the leading run-scorer of 2021 with 854 runs in 19 innings so far. He has accumulated runs at an average of 65.19 including 2 centuries and 6 half-centuries. He is 146 runs away from completing 1000 runs this year and become the first player to reach the landmark.

3 – Pakistan captain Babar Azam could not put a show in the first Test of the series as he got out for a duck on the very first ball he faced. He would be hoping to play a big knock in the second match. If Babar is successful in scoring a century in the second game, he will become only the third player after Faf du Plessis and Tillakaratne Dilshan to smash a hundred in each of the three formats as the captain of the team.

5 – Pakistan have played 5 international series so far in 2021 and have won all of them. They have defeated Zimbabwe and South Africa across formats till now. If Pakistan wins the last game or are able to draw it, this would be their sixth consecutive series win of the year.

5 – Fawad Alam smashed a brilliant century in the first Test of the series scoring 140 runs off 204 balls. This was his 4th Test hundred, and he has converted all his first four 50+ scores in Test into tons. Fawad can become only the third player to convert the first five 50+ Test scores into a hundred if he crosses the three-figure mark in this Test. Till now, George Headley and Everton Weekes are the only other players who have achieved this milestone.

11 – Pakistan have won 11 Tests against Zimbabwe so far, and can surpass New Zealand (11) in this regard. They will reach the second spot after Sri Lanka who have 14 wins against Zimbabwe in Test cricket.