Sean Williams’ resilient knock revives Zimbabwe’s innings
Zimbabwe vs England Test: Veteran Sean Williams once again used his experience to anchor Zimbabwe’s innings with a gritty 88. Zimbabwe reached 141/3 at lunch, still trailing England’s 565 by 159 runs.
Williams added a vital partnership of 122 runs with Ben Curran, which forced the England bowlers to work hard in the morning session. The pitch is still supportive for batting but England could not carry its follow-on intention to fruition.
Williams’ confident knock was full of boundaries
Using the experience of his 20 years career, Sean Williams hit boundaries to England bowlers through cover and mid-off. He hit 16 boundaries in his 88 run innings, 9 of which came between cover and mid-off. All these came on deliveries that were either overpitched or outside the off-stump.
Playing with him, Ben Curran batted cautiously and scored 36 runs in 96 balls. He remained on the pitch till lunch and now batsmen like Sikandar Raza and Wessly Madhevere are still there to support him.
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England bowling plagued by injuries and missed chances
England’s bowlers did not show the expected sharpness in this session. Only Ben Stokes looked dangerous for some time, but the rest of the seamers lost discipline. Sam Cook and Josh Tongue could not maintain consistency in both line and length, and Shoaib Bashir’s introduction was also not effective.
Williams also kept an aggressive approach against spin. He hit a four with a reverse sweep in Bashir’s very first over and also confidently played Josh Tongue on short balls. At one moment Williams even got hurt by a ball hitting his arm, but even after that he kept the game in control by playing attacking shots.
DRS drama and missed opportunities made life difficult for England
DRS was quite crucial in this session. Once Kumar Dharmasena gave Ben Curran out LBW, but after review the ball was going above the stumps. In the next over when Williams hit a delivery from Bashir, he also reviewed, but this time the ball leg was seen touching the top edge of the stump, and he had to return to the pavilion.
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Till that time Williams was playing on 88 and if he had got a little more time, he could have scored another Test century, which would have been his fifth in the last five years.
In the end, what is left for Zimbabwe?
Zimbabwe does not have much batting depth after Richard Ngarava was injured. But as long as batsmen like Curran and Raza are at the crease, Zimbabwe’s hopes are alive. England still needs wickets to win the match, but looking at their current bowling form, it seems that this task is not going to be easy for them.
Sean Williams showed in this session that with the right combination of experience and technique, a team can be handled under any pressure. Williams has posed a new challenge to the England bowlers, who had been excellent in this match so far. The path to winning the match is still difficult for Zimbabwe, but this kind of fight definitely highlights their spirit.
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