In Bulawayo this week, Zimbabwe followed their dominance over Bangladesh by giving Pakistan a bit of a scare, too. For the home team, Tino Mawoyo carried his bat for 163 in only his second Test match. However, Pakistan's Aizaz Cheema finished with match figures of 8 for 103 in his first, and Mohammed Hafeez struck a Test career best 119 and 4-31 to achieve an unlikely win.
In England, Durham beat Sussex to stay top of the County Championship with just one match to go. However, Shivnarine Chanderpaul scored another 166 runs, helping Warwickshire beat Yorkshire, simultaneously putting his side in pole position to win the title while condemning the White Rose to a likely relegation. Hampshire meanwhile maintained their recovery by giving a weakened Somerset a right thumping at Taunton. Michael Carberry was involved in a another huge partnership, this time 373 for the 2nd wicket. However, there was no 300 this week, only a mere 182, while opener Jimmy Adams reached 207. Lancashire blew their chance to lead Division One after Worcestershire's veteran seamer Alan Richardson blew them away in the second innings with 6-22.
In Division Two, Middlesex went top. Andrew Strauss abandoned his new love Somerset and returned to his old home at Lord's and scored 241 not out in the county's ten wicket win over lowly Leicestershire. He would have won my Player of the Week award, but the man who took rivals Surrey to a crucial victory against long-time leaders Northamptonshire pipped him to the post.
At Northampton, Stephen Davies and Zander de Bruyn outscored the opposition on their own but the most notable performance of the week came from Pragyan Ojha. In the second innings, the Indian international left-arm spinner delivered 16.3 overs from the Wantage Road End, claiming a staggering six wickets for only eight runs. A very tasty early 25th birthday present, that must be his best performance in his career so far. His Test record is nothing to write home about, but like many fellow young Indian spinners, he has made his name in the IPL as a model of economy. If only he could carry the sort of form he showed in last week's Championship fixture, maybe he could move above Ashwin, Harbajhan et al in the Indian Test pecking order for slow bowlers.
