one-off Test against Pakistan, at Queens Sports Club yesterday.
With the more experienced batsmen crumbling around him, Mawoyo batted the whole day for an impressive 82 not out as Zimbabwe were 245/4 at stumps.
Playing in only his second Test, the 25-year-old Mawoyo defied the odds to make his maiden half century although he was fortunate to be dropped while on 27 in the 36th over.
Mawoyo faced 273 deliveries and hit 10 fours in a patient knock that provided lessons to the seniors who threw their wickets on a flat wicket. He faced the first ball of the day at 10am and was still there to face the last ball just after 5pm.
Craig Ervine made a flawless 38 in an impressive unbeaten fifth wicket stand of 69, which looks set to be the highest for the innings.
Pakistan won the toss and strangely opted to field on a flat wicket as they tend to enjoy bowling after some wear and tear. But this was influenced by their team selection in which they had three novice seamers who had been expected to exploit the conditions early on in the first morning.
However, they struggled to trouble the Zimbabwe openers Mawoyo and Vusi Sibanda for the opening hour.
The introduction of right-arm off-spinner Saeed Ajmal brought Zimbabwe’s dominance to an end as he made a breakthrough in his fourth over.
But for Zimbabwe it was a cheap wicket. Sibanda looked well placed for a huge score but he crumbled on 45 runs when aggression got the better of him. Sibanda was deceived by Ajmal’s doosra, charged at it but looked to block, beaten in flight and he was left stranded – off his ground-and wicketkeeper Adnan Akmal had an easy job removing the stumps.
Zimbabwe were now 71/1.
Sibanda hit nine fours off his 66 balls and had dominated the Pakistan seamers with his favourite shot -the pull.
But, as has been the case for much of his promising career, he missed out after making a good start.
Assistant coach Steve Mangongo had spoken of the need for the core batsmen to take responsibility and be able to bat through and also rebuild innings. He would have been disappointed that they did not take heed and three top-order wickets fell with a difference of 20 runs between them and Ajmal claiming all three.
Second to go was Hamilton Masakadza in the 37th over and it was a gift. Having made 11, Hamilton went for a needless pull shot, misjudged the line and saw his off stump dislodged.
Zimbabwe were now 91/2.
Captain Brendan Taylor came in at number four and was expected to use his experience and steady the ship.
However, he barely stayed on the crease as he fell for what was the lowest score of the innings. Taylor was on 10 after 40,4 overs when he was trapped leg before to Ajmal’s offbreak and Zimbabwe were now 111/3.
Former skipper Tatenda Taibu joined Mawoyo for a fourth wicket stand that seemed set to take Zimbabwe beyond 200. With Mawoyo playing an anchor’s role, Taibu looked fluent and was untroubled
until a moment of weakness in the 66th over.
Having moved to 44 off 69 balls, Taibu stunned the small crowd when he went fishing with a deserved half century beckoning. Sohail Khan made the breakthrough with one of the worst balls of his bowling.
The ball was short and wide but Taibu decided to go after it and only managed an edge to the wicketkeeper.
A promising partnership had been broken and a promising innings had fallen short of a deserved 50.
Sadly it was self-inflicted. Luckily for Zimbabwe, Mawoyo stayed to partner Ervine for a responsible fifth wicket stand that yielded 69 runs in 24,4 overs to revive the innings.
Mawoyo looks well placed for his maiden Test hundred while Ervine also looked set for a career-best innings. All they need is to stay sober today, especially given that the Zimbabwe tail is long.
Zimbabwe 1st innings
T. Mawoyo not out 82
V. Sibanda st Adnan Akmal b Saeed Ajmal 45
H. Masakadza b Saeed Ajmal 11
B. Taylor lbw b Saeed Ajmal 10
T. Taibu c Adnan Akmal b Sohail Khan 44
C. Ervine not out 38
Extras (b 2, lb 11, nb 2) 15
Total (4 wickets; 90 overs) 245
Still to bat: G. Lamb, R. Price, B. Vitori, K. Jarvis, C. Mpofu
Fall of wickets: 1-71 (Sibanda, 22.5 ov), 2-91 (Masakadza, 36.1 ov), 3-111 (Taylor, 40.4 ov), 4-176 (Taibu, 65.2 ov)
Bowling: Sohail Khan 17-7-42-1; Aizaz Cheema 15-7-48-0(2nb); Junaid Khan 21-12-39-0; Saeed Ajmal 29-6-5-3; Mohammad Hafeez 8-1-28-0