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Manchester City’s first-choice attacking options are amongst some of the best in the Premier League. Erling Haaland is the leading scorer in the Premier League and has been largely unstoppable. Rayan Cherki has been flourishing, and Phil Foden is looking back to his best.

Yet, Pep Guardiola does seem reluctant at times to use the full extent of his squad in those forward areas. Perhaps the best example of that is Omar Marmoush, who has only played 206 minutes in the Premier League this term. Oscar Bobb and Sabvnho have only played 467 minutes apiece.

Thus, City are looking to add another attacker to the squad this winter, with Antoine Semenyo a real option.

What Semenyo could add to City’s attack

It does seem like City will push to sign Bournemouth winger Semenyo this winter. The former Bristol City star is a key target for Guardiola’s side, and they will go up against rivals Manchester United to get his signature.

If this deal were to get over the line, there are certainly a lot of positives to Semenyo’s game. He has been sensational for the Cherries this term, with eight goals and three assists in 16 appearances so far.

However, he will bring so much more than goals to this City side. The Ghanaian winger is an “explosive” attacker, according to football scout Ben Mattinson. He thrives in transitional scenarios and could add a new dynamic to this City squad in that sense.

His versatility will be a huge benefit for City’s Spanish manager, too. Guardiola can depend on Semenyo to play on either wing, with Mattinson noting he has “both footed ball striking” ability. The forward can even operate up front, as he has done under Andoni Iraola for Bournemouth.

However, if City had decided against releasing a former academy star, they may have been able to save a fortune on Semenyo this summer.

Big-money star is better than Semenyo 8 years after leaving

Over the last few seasons, City’s academy has produced some excellent footballers. Perhaps the most notable two are surely Phil Foden and Cole Palmer, who are key players at international level for England.

However, it might be a little-known fact that Bayern Munich and France star Michael Olise was once in the Citizens’ academy. The ex-Crystal Palace man represented the club for one season at youth level before moving to Reading in 2017.

Of course, his career has gone from strength to strength since becoming a professional player. He shone in the Premier League for Palace before moving to Bayern, where he has established himself as a world beater.

The London-born attacker has played 80 times for the Bundesliga giants. In that time, Olise has scored 30 goals and amassed an impressive 37 assists. He’s also become a first-choice starter for France under Didier Deschamps, alongside the likes of Kylian Mbappe.

Bayern legend Karl-Heinz Rummenigge certainly knows a thing or two about making it to the top in Bavaria. He has been full of praise for Olise since his move, putting him on the same pedestal as legendary duo Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery.

His numbers compared to Semenyo are nothing short of sensational. For example, the French winger is averaging 2.92 key passes and 1.15 goal-creating actions per 90 minutes, compared to the Cherries winger’s 1.44 key passes and 0.44 goal-creating actions each game.

Olise & Semenyo key stats compared

Stat (per 90)

Olise

Semenyo

Goals and assists

1.15

0.69

Key passes

2.92

1.44

Goal-creating actions

1.15

0.44

Take-ons completed

2.31

1.56

Progressive carries

6.23

3.69

Stats from FBref

Signing Semenyo this winter would be quite the coup for City; there is no doubt about that. However, if they had kept hold of Olise all those years ago, they might not have needed to add the Cherries star to their attack.

Now, the French star is valued at a reported £100m, and there are no links at present, so it seems unlikely City will move for him. But their fans may well look back on that and wonder what could have been.

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Posts ByDan Emery

	Aaron Bird could be back in New South Wales colours this week after a disappointing 2006-07 that featured injuries and questions over his bowling action © Getty Images

Aaron Bird is in line for his first state match since clearing his name over a suspect bowling action. Bird, the New South Wales fast bowler, has been included in the Blues’ squad for their FR Cup game against Western Australia at the SCG on Wednesday.Last season Bird’s whippy action was reported by several umpires but it took until September for his bowling style to be passed as legal after stress fractures in his back significantly delayed his biomechanical testing. Bird replaces Mark Cameron, who has a side strain, in the New South Wales squad.He said facing a potential ban from state cricket had been devastating. “It was the worst point of my career,” Bird told the . “For something you love so much, and you work so hard for, to be taken away like that breaks your heart.”I always knew I was right to go and I proved that. Whenever there is a different action, people are going to have questions or queries on it. When there is enough mud thrown, sometimes it sticks.”What has come out of all of this is how much I love the game. Even though I was struggling so much with it all, I was still enjoying playing.”Wednesday’s one-day game is followed by a Pura Cup match between the two sides that starts on Friday. Western Australia have regained their captain Marcus North for both encounters, and he is set to play his first state games for the season after missing more than half the summer with a degenerative knee condition.New South Wales FR Cup squad Phillip Hughes, Simon Katich (capt), Daniel Smith, Brad Haddin (wk), Dominic Thornely, Steven Smith, Moises Henriques, Nathan Hauritz, Matthew Nicholson, Nathan Bracken, Aaron Bird, Doug Bollinger.New South Wales Pura Cup squad Phillip Hughes, Greg Mail, Simon Katich (capt), Brad Haddin (wk), Peter Forrest, Dominic Thornely, Steven Smith, Grant Lambert, Moises Henriques, Beau Casson, Matthew Nicholson, Nathan Bracken, Doug Bollinger.Western Australia FR Cup squad Justin Langer, Luke Ronchi (wk), Shaun Marsh, Marcus North (capt), Adam Voges, Luke Pomersbach, Sean Ervine, Theo Doropoulos, Aaron Heal, Brett Dorey, Steve Magoffin, Ben Edmondson.Western Australia Pura Cup squad Chris Rogers, Justin Langer, Shaun Marsh, Adam Voges, Marcus North (capt), Luke Pomersbach, Luke Ronchi (wk), Aaron Heal, Brett Dorey, Steve Magoffin, Ben Edmondson, Mathew Inness.

Andrew Symonds injured his arm while batting against England in Sydney © Getty Images

Andrew Symonds can be named in Australia’s World Cup squad and be replaced if he fails to recover from a serious arm injury, the ICC has ruled. Australia made the request because they are unsure how long Symonds will be out with a torn biceps.Symonds suffered the injury during Friday night’s loss to England and had surgery on Sunday morning. Estimates on the speed of his return seem to vary from six weeks to six months, but he is in serious doubt for the tournament in the Caribbean. Australia’s first game of the World Cup is against Scotland on March 14 while the more important Super Eight stage begins on March 27.Australia must announce their 15-man squad by Tuesday and Cricket Australia did not want to be forced into a situation where Symonds would be picked in the outfit and then have to drop out, leaving them a player short. AAP reported Dave Richardson, the ICC’s general manager of cricket, allowed the change.The deadline has come at a difficult time for Australia as they still have the best-of-three CB Series finals to play followed by the Chappell-Hadlee Series in New Zealand, which starts on February 16. The selectors have hard decisions to make after Stuart Clark and Shaun Tait were left out of the 13-man group for the match against England at the MCG on Friday.

ScorecardSaurashta took the honours on the first day of the Ranji Trophy Plate Group final at Rajkot thanks to an impressive spell of fast bowling from Sandip Maniar that dismissed Rajasthan for just 201.Maniar struck blows at vital junctures: he drew first blood by forcing Mithun Beerala to edge behind in the fourth over, and then, broke a threatening 89-run partnership for the sixth wicket between Nikhil Doru and Ajay Jadeja, Rajasthan’s captain. Following Doru’s dismissal, Maniar ran through Rajasthan’s tail en route to his fifth first-class five-for.Maniar’s initial strike opened the gates for Sandeep Jobanputra to prise out additional wickets at the top, leaving Rajasthan at 91 for 4 going in to lunch. Rajasthan’s fightback came in two spurts: in the first session Rahul Kanwat smacked a 58-ball 50 to add 44 with Doru, while in the afternoon Jadeja scored an impressive 71. Barring these three, no other Rajasthan batsman contributed anything of note, and this may prove costly as the match progresses.In reply, Kanaiya Vaghela and Sagar Jogiyani, Saurashtra’s openers, put up 36 in 13 overs.

Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Swarming support: Team-mates surge to congratulate Nathan Bracken on his six wickets© Getty Images

Nathan Bracken destroyed Queensland’s Pura Cup home final with 6 for 27 as the Bulls fell for a miserable 102 at the Gabba. New South Wales, who decided against flying in Brett Lee from New Zealand, steamed through a disrupted opening day and held a pressing advantage as they reached 1 for 26 at stumps.Needing only a draw to win the trophy, Queensland started badly when Clinton Perren, Jimmy Maher and Shane Watson fell in 16 balls before Andrew Symonds (36) and Martin Love (24) shared the innings’ highest partnership of 42. But Grant Lambert, the allrounder preferred to Ed Cowan, dismissed Love, Matthew Nicholson added the important wicket of Symonds to go with Watson’s scalp, and Bracken returned with four more successes.Bracken was on a hat-trick after cleaning up Wade Seccombe and Ashley Noffke, but Joe Dawes defended his next ball, a swinging yorker, before becoming his sixth victim. The figures of 6 for 27 from 13.2 overs were the best since Wayne Holdsworth collected 7 for 41 against Queensland in the 1992-93 final.New South Wales suffered one setback in their chase when Greg Mail edged Watson to Andy Bichel at third slip, but bad light ended any hopes of more Bulls charging. Rain interrupted the first session and only six overs were possible before lunch, Queensland moving to 0 for 10 after being sent in by Brad Haddin.The Bulls appeared in their sixth consecutive Pura Cup final but they have not won the trophy since beating Tasmania at the Gabba in 2001-02. New South Wales also upset Queensland’s home advantage two seasons ago when they delivered a crushing 246-run victory.

Close
ScorecardPakistan provided another example of their great capacity for unearthing newbatting talent on the opening day of their tour of New Zealand against Auckland. They won the toss, batted first and made 318, with fine half-centuries from Imran Farhat and Yasir Hameed.Farhat continued from where he left off in the recent one-day series against New Zealand in Pakistan, scoring 73 off 70 balls. He added 74 for the second wicket with Hameed, before being dismissed by Brooke Walker, Auckland’s legspinning captain, who ended the day with 5 for 55.Hameed went on to score 96, being caught on the backward-square-legboundary by Kerry Walmsley, off Paul Hitchcock’s bowling, after the trap hadbeen set for him. Auckland’s fielding helped to break down the strength inthe Pakistanis batting, with Inzamam-ul-Haq smartly run out by Matt Horne as heattempted to take a second run.Walmsley’s catch was outstanding while Horne also took a fine catch later inthe innings. After the lightning start by the Pakistani batsmen, it wasAsim Kamal who held up the later stages of the innings, scoring 43 off107 balls. Shoaib Akhtar made 32 off 50 balls.Auckland suffered a blow when Kyle Mills damaged his shoulder in the field, forcing him out of the rest of the match. He had taken 1 for 20 off seven overs when that happened.Auckland, when stumps was taken early due to bad light, had reached 35for 1, with Mark Richardson and Tim McIntosh both on 13 – McIntosh havingtaken three boundaries from one over by Mohammad Sami.

SHELL SA CRICKET ACADEMY REPORT
Two years have already passed by and it always gives me great pleasure to have been associated with young players who come through our academy and progressed into higher honours. Duncan Brown and Rivash Gobind have gone on to represent the Nashua Dolphins; Hashim Amla, Bongwa Hlongwane and Imraan Khan have been given Nashua Dolphins contracts for the 2001/2002 season. At the completion of the National Plascon Academy 2001, Duncan had the honour of being named the best batsman of this intake.
SUB-UNIONS
Our Shell SA Academy days that were set up in our sub-unions have grown from strength to strength. We have increased the practice sessions from one day a week to two days per week, and the number of sub-unions has also grown. The sub-unions include Pietermaritzburg, Midlands, Umzinto, Zululand, Matatiele/Ixopo, Durban South, Durban North, Ladysmith, Newcastle, Mandeni, Stanger, Port Shepstone and Tongaat. These Satellite Academies have become very successful and we have identified a number of talented young players in theses areas. The success of these Academies can be seen in our results during Michaelmas Week, as well as the growing number of boys that are now being selected in our KZNCU Schools Teams. Here I would like to mention a youngster, Saeed Mhlongo from Stanger, who has gone on to represent KZN Schools A and KZN U19 with great distinction.
JULY CAMP
Our July Camp was once again a great success. Ex South African cricketer Peter Carlstein who is currently a top batting coach in Western Australia, spent two weeks with the boys. Again this was by invitation only, but unlike previous years, with the involvement of our Sub Unions, we were able to invite boys from as far as Ixopo, Matatiele, Howick and Wartburg. As mentioned before these Shell SA Academy Days have proved to be a great success. The boys spent a week with what involved intensive batting and bowling coaching, lectures on Sports Psychology and Sports Physiology and not forgetting a `bit’ of fitness. Two games were also played during each week. The involvement of Peter Carlstein proved a great success.
It was encouraging to note from him that his opinion is that he rates the Shell SA Academy as one of the best he has been involved with. During the two weeks Peter also conducted morning coaching sessions in Zululand, Pietermaritzburg, Port Shepstone and Durban.
It is pleasing to note from an outsider that we are well in touch (this is supported by the great success of Shell SA Academy Days). We have and must once again thank Shell SA for their support and of course all my coaching staff.
The following boys were invited:
I KHAN
K NAICKER
A KADWA
S MHLONGO
T NXELE
K NAGIN
G ADDICOTT
D SAMANATHAN
B MOSES
E SPRINGER
D HORSFALL
D ADDICOTT
R MINNIE
W IRVINE
D BOOTE
R REEVES
U OSMAN
A OSMAN
A CHANDRAPRAKASH
A CHANDRAPRAKASH
V GOBIND
C CHETTY
D PILLAY
P RAMPERSAD
T PILLAY
T JALI
D GOVENDER
V PREMRAJ
N MOHAMMED
T CHIMANE
D MORTIMER
R HILLERMANN
R HILLERMANN
B VERMAAK
K VILAKAZI
W FYNN
C DRUMMOND
A HARGREAVES
N SHAH
F SHAIK
U BHEMNARAYAN
Y MADIKIZELA
R ANDERSON
J PANDOHE
MICHAELMAS WEEK
The 42nd Michaelmas Cricket Week was held at Maritzburg College from 29 September until the 2 October 2001. There were 14 teams participating in the tournament, with KZN Shell Academy being the only development team. Palmerston North Boys’ High School was an invitation team from New Zealand.The Shell Academy won 2 games and lost 2 games. The team performed excellently on the second day to beat Grey College, and cause the biggest upset of the week! Although losing to Pretoria Boys, we were the only team at the week to bowl them out. The win against Palmerston North Boys’ was excellent in a rain-affected match. Despite losing two games, they gave an excellent account of themselves, and didn’t leave the tournament without making a mark.

Darren Mortimer (Captain)
East Springer
Riaan Minnie
Devon Pillay
Uzair Osman
Azhar Osman
Tyron Pillay
Rudi Hillermann
Rolf Hillermann
Preshen Rampersadh (Wicket-Keeper)
Camden Chetty
Saidi Mhlongo
Vyash Gobind

Day 1: Pretoria Boys’ High won by 29 runs.
Day 2: Shell Academy won by 1 wicket.
Day 3: Kind Edward won by 106 runs.
Day 4: Shell Academy won by 96 runs.
YOUTH PROGRAMME
Our Shell Academy Youth Programme has continued with great enthusiasm and support from all the schools in KwaZulu Natal. Six squads practice on a weekly basis with age groups comprising of U18, U16, U15, U14 and a Primary Schools Squad. These boys are either invited and or nominated by their schools. These boys were also fortunate to be coached by Eldine Baptiste during the off-season and again his invaluable input has been a tremendous asset to the Academy. The success of the Shell SA Cricket Academy Youth Programme is reflected in our KZN U19 results whereby they are now unbeaten in three years. Our KZN Schools Team all had a highly successful Coca Cola Week.
During the off-season we conducted a very successful training programme with boys from the townships. With the co-operation and the hard work that Linda Zondi, Sakhele Simon and Rodney Malamba have done in these areas, it is very pleasing to see the enthusiasm from these young boys. An example of this is a youngster Toto Chamane who represented KZN Schools B team at the recent Coca Cola Week. With the continued support and hard work from the coaches, this programme can only grow.
On average 250 boys are invited to attend the Academy per month. Out of this 55% are players of colour.
PLASCON ACADEMY
The Plascon Academy, our National Academy, is a definite highlight of our year. Once again we were outplayed by Teams who showed far more confidence and experience than we did. We played 2 three-day games and 2 one-day games and although we did not perform well, we learnt a great deal. The boys realized that in order for them to achieve, they need to lift their game a level. I found this situation was exactly the same as last year.
Last June I saw an unbelievable improvement in not only the boys play, but also their attitude towards games and practices. Again it happened this year and I saw a great improvement in their play and attitude toward practice.
WINTER LEAGUE
For the first time the Shell SA Cricket Academy entered a team into our local Winter League. The boys took a little time to adapt to the much shorter version of the game but once they had adapted we played some really good cricket only to be disappoint ourselves by losing in the semi-finals. If such a competition takes place in 2002 the Shell SA Cricket Academy will definitely enter again and hopefully with the same success.
At the end of February, our Senior Academy Team toured Pretoria and Gauteng.We played one 3-day game and two 1-day games against the Northerns Academy. Unfortunately the 3-day game was interrupted by rain with the odds evenly balanced. We lost the two 1-day games very narrowly. The Northerns Academy had a little more experience than us, which counted during crucial stages of these games.
The Gauteng game we lost the toss were put in on a difficult wicket. We did however post a reasonable score but it was never enough for an experienced Gauteng Colts Team.
The tour proved very successful not only from a cricket point of view but also from a learning perspective. The boys got to know one another and more importantly got to meet boys from other provinces. These are valuable friendships and experiences that hopefully our boys will carry with them for the rest of their life.
Results:
Northerns Academy – 174/10
(Harvey 36/4, Power 64/4)
Shell Academy – 207/8
(Rosenberg 45, Anderson 28)
Northerns Academy – 115/6
(Symcox 16/2, Anderson 24/2)

Shell Academy-141/9
(Harvey 38, Rosenberg 20)
Northerns Academy-142/8
(Pietersen 13/2, Symcox 17/2, Power 26/2)

Northerns Academy-185/9
(Power 27/3, Anderson 36/3)
Shell Academy-176/7
(Smit 34, Bassage 32, Pietersen 24*)

Shell Academy-134/10
(Smit 42, Hauptfleisch 27)
Gauteng Colts-204/7(Hauptfleisch 32/2, Anderson 39/2, Rock 8/1)
Shell Academy-209/8
(Hauptfleicsh 87*, Van Vuuren 44, Anderson 30)

Shell Academy-203/5
(Harvey 69, Bassage 42, Sanders 35, Hauptfleicsh 31)
Gauteng Colts-204/8
(Govender 26/3, Pietersen 41/2)
27 March
Shell Academy-171/9(Gobind 79)
Gauteng Colts-101/10(Symcox 23/3, Anderson 6/2, Dennington 13/2)
During the `off’ season Eldine Baptiste who had recently been appointed the Dolphins Coach for 2001 / 2002 again coached the Senior Academy. Once again his invaluable input helped improve the boys cricketing skills and knowledge about the game. These sessions overlapped into the Dolphins pre-season practice schedule of which the Shell SA Cricket Academy became an integrated part. The boys gained valuable experience practicing with players of the likes of Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener and Jonty Rhodes.
Unfortunately with every happy moment there comes a sad one too. We were unfortunate to lose Wayne van Vuuren in a tragic car accident in June. Our thoughts and prayers are with Wayne’s family.
I would like to congratulate Hashim Amla, Imraan Khan and Lucky Dladla on their selection to attend the Plascon National Academy. Hashim has also been honoured as the South African U19 captain. Imraan made this same side as well as captaining the South African Schools. Adrian Penzhorn was selected to tour with the South African Colts side.
At the end of the year function the following Academy Awards were presented:
Academy Player of the Year – Victor XuluMost Improved Player – Saeed MhlongoAcademy Achievers of the Year – Matthew Dennington,Imraan Khan, Russel Symcox, John Anderson
Yet again we have had another very successful year at the Shell SA Cricket Academy. One cannot reiterate the importance of such a great sponsor as Shell SA. I would like to thank Shell SA and especially Linda Ntombela for their ongoing support. To Craig, Odette and all at Varsity College for providing the senior boys with an invaluable education.
I’m also very excited to announce that we will be spreading our wings in 2002, with the generous support from the above two sponsors, we are setting up a Shell SA Senior Cricket Academy in Pietermaritzburg.
Senior Shell Academy Intake for 2002:
Creesan Naicker, Ashraf Kadwa, Victor Xulu, Nqaba Mpofu, Anley Chinnippa, Andrew Perkins, East Springer, Matthew Dennington, Darren Smit, Wayne Madsen, Russel Symcox, Anderson Ndovela
Pietermaritzburg:
Stuart Woodroffe, Yusuf Abdulla, Davelin Samanathan, Ryan Rosenberg, Victor Walker-Randall, John Anderson, Trevor Kunda, Tsia Essack

It was day two on Tuesday at Deccan Gymkhana, Pune, in the Cooch BeharTrophy quarterfinal match between Haryana and Railways. ManvinderBisla who was unbeaten on 181 at the end of the first day’s playcarried on to score a masterly double century of 236. Bisla was severeon Railways bowlers as he went on to smash 28 boundaries and 3 sixes.By the time Bisla was dismissed he added 160 runs with Deepak Joon forthe fifth wicket. Joon who started the day on 35 added to Railway’smisery by notching up a century and went on to make 152. Haryanadeclared at 616/8 on Joon’s dismissal. His 152 came in as few as 191balls and included 16 strokes reached the fence and two that flew overfor sixes. Railways were brought to their knees by Amit Mishra14-7-25-3 and by the close of play were 117/4 in 41 overs with openingbatsman Sriram Yadav on an unbeaten 36 putting up a fight.

West Brom’s Championship woes have continued even past the sacking of Valerien Ismail, dropping points in three of the club’s last five and winning just three games since the turn of the year.

Just seven teams in the entire division have scored less than their total of 42 goals for the season – a terrible return for a club expected to bounce straight back up to the Premier League after being relegated at the end of the last season.

To make matters worse, Baggies academy graduate Tyler Roberts looks like he could remain in the top flight for another season with Leeds, after joining the club from West Brom back in 2018 for £2.5m – once again proving to them that they shouldn’t have sold him for so little.

Now worth £7.2m according to Transfermarkt, the Wales International remained part of Leeds’ plans under new manager Jesse Marsch, until he suffered an injury earlier in the month which ruled him out for the rest of the season.

He is also being tipped for a summer exit by the likes of journalist Dean Jones, who said: “You do get the feeling that his position is one of those that will be targeted in the summer to be strengthened.”

Despite that update, he could still be a valuable asset to a newly promoted Premier League team, and still has plenty of talent left to offer to his next club – which will likely not be West Brom due to their poor standing in the Championship right now.

The 23-year-old has previously been name-dropped by Spain manager Luis Enrique as one of Wales’ biggest threats, saying: “They have good, young players, like Tyler Roberts, and we know it will not be easy.”

Among midfielders in Europe’s top five leagues and continental competitions, Roberts ranks in the top 4% for pressures in the attacking third per 90 (5.75), top 1% for touches in the attacking penalty area per 90 (4.06) and top 6% for carries into the penalty area per 90 (0.55) – evidence that he can still compete in the top flight and be a solid option for teams in the lower half of the top-flight.

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With great energy, work rate and attitude, the 19-time Wales international could have been a star at Albion, if they gave him more of a chance and a larger role within the squad – and now they are suffering the consequences while Roberts has become a Premier League level player.

In other news: Disaster: Ismael could now inflict even more misery on West Brom this summer

Scorecard

	Shahid Afridi finished with 4 for 37 as Patron’s XI bowled out the Zimbabweans for 209 © AFP

The Patron’s XI openers put on an unbroken 65-run partnership after their legspinners grabbed seven wickets to bowl out the Zimbabweans for 209 on the opening day of the tour match in Karachi.Opting to bat, the Zimbabweans failed to capitalise on a 62-run third-wicket partnership and lost their last six wickets for only 27 runs. After Hamilton Masakadza, their stand-in captain in place of the injured Prosper Utseya, fell on the seventh ball of the innings, the Zimbabweans were carried past 50 by Brendan Taylor and Vusi Sibanda. While defensive play was the order of the morning, Taylor made it a point to latch onto anything wide of off stump. Cutting an impressive Sohail Khan to bring up his first boundary, Taylor then creamed Kamran Hussain through extra cover to ease off some pressure.While Sibanda perished to a catch behind the stumps, Taylor shifted gears and smashed Afridi over long-on for the first six of the morning. He then guided Sohail through gully and then dispatched an overpitched delivery through extra cover for another four. Tatenda Taibu, too, was in no mood to hang around. Following Taylor’s dismissal to a loose stroke off Yasir, Taibu, sensing Yasir as the weakest link in the bowling attack, swept the legspinner over midwicket for four before a similar shot fetched him a couple. However, with the next four deliveries reverse-swept – resulting in two fours, a dot ball and a leg-before appeal – Taibu made hisintentions quite clear.While Sean Williams was particularly harsh on Afridi – driving him through the covers and sweeping him over midwicket for a six – a reverse-sweep too many resulted in Taibu’s dismissal – taken at slip off Afridi – for a 60-ball 46. That was as good as it got for the touring side as the spincombination of Afridi and Yasir, as well as Fawad Alam – who managed Williams’ wicket in his first over – ran through their lower order. In search of quick runs, the Zimbabweans missed out on an ideal opportunity for batting practice in their first outing of the tour.In reply, Nasir Jamshed and Khalid Latif started aggressively as Jamshed – with 800 runs in the recently-concluded Quaid-e-Azam Trophy behind him – drove Christopher Mpofu through extra cover before pulling Elton Chigumbura through midwicket for fours. The introduction of spin failed to break the partnership, with Ray Price’s flighted delivery duly dispatched overlong-off by Jamshed.With a strong batting line-up, Patron’s XI will look to score quick runs on the second day and aim to use a a pitch which is expected to deteriorate with time to their advantage.