Mohammad Hafeez fell at the stroke of lunch after completing his first away century, a dismissal that marginally tarnished Pakistan's dominance on the third morning in Bulawayo. Hafeez and Azhar Ali extended their stand to 188, capitalising on the lifelessness of the pitch and lack of bite in Zimbabwe's attack. With both sides having seemingly shut shop in the lead up to the break, Hafeez flicked part-timer Hamilton Masakadza uppishly to be caught at short midwicket, giving Zimbabwe their first smiles of the morning.

Zimbabwe's lengths, though disciplined, remained mind-numbingly predictable, right from the first ball of the day - a Kyle Jarvis half-volley that Azhar punched down the ground. Their seamers did not have the pace to bother the batsmen, and focussed on landing the ball on a length and hoping for an error. It was a plan that played into the hands of Hafeez, whose only moment of discomfort on the second day had come against a short ball that left him.

Hafeez's loose-limbed movements and lazy elegance are designed for pitches with predictable bounce and no movement. His forward push seldom gets him to the pitch of the ball, but his ability to drive through the line - and when required, on the up - makes him an entertaining fair-weather batsman. With the threat of the bouncer all but absent, he was allowed to repeatedly press ahead and set himself up for the drive. He had a scare in the second over of the day when he spooned a return catch, but Chris Mpofu grassed it in his follow through. For the second time in two sessions, Zimbabwe had given Hafeez an early life, and he was about to cash in once again.

The reprieve increased Hafeez's resolve as he neared his ton. His first boundary came off a short ball, one of only three that Zimbabwe bowled in the first hour. Even then, Hafeez had enough time to swivel around and pull despite being on the front foot. For the most part, he was content to cover the line and work the ball around. He brought up his first away century off his 128th ball, pulling a friendly Brian Vitori short ball through midwicket. After that the drives and glides began to flow more naturally, as Mpofu and Vitori paid the price for offering width.

With Hafeez playing within himself, Azhar provided the sparkle from his end. Unlike his loose partner, Azhar's batting technique is founded on stronger fundamentals - a balanced trigger movement, decisive footwork both ways and soft hands. His slight shuffle across the stumps set him up well for pulling or whipping anything too straight, as Mpofu found three times in his first spell. But Azhar's best strokes came through the off side, when he caressed Vitori through extra-cover off the front foot, and punched Mpofu in the same direction off the back foot. His runs came at a much more leisurely pace than Hafeez's, but he was easily the more attractive partner this morning.

With wickets not forthcoming, Zimbabwe resorted to plugging holes, and the batsmen were content to grind in the lead-up to lunch, until Hafeez's indiscretion. Pakistan, however, have enough ballast in their middle order to build on this platform.