A night out in Bulawayo

There are batsmen who cannot be moved and then there's Misbah-ul-Haq. There are swing bowlers and then there's Waqar Younis. There are small towns and then there's Bulawayo.

Yes, it is that extreme. Bulawayo, as far as towns go, is tiny. Residents here think of Harare as the city that never sleeps - and most of Zimbabwe's capital is lights out by 10pm. In Bulawayo, people prefer to get to bed by 9pm. If I return to the guesthouse I am staying at any later, the front door is locked and the owner's mobile has been switched off. Getting in requires an elaborate process of banging on the front door, ringing the bell incessantly, and asking the cab driver to hoot the house down.

But, that was from Monday to Thursday, essentially school nights, so even though it's a little early, it can be excused. Friday would surely be different. It had to be, because one of our party was celebrating his birthday and was determined to find a good time. We were told that there are 36 restaurants in Bulawayo and the one the birthday boy picked for his festive meal was an old favourite. Nandos.

For South Africans, this is one of the most hackneyed fast food outlets in business. It's better than a lot of its counterparts, because at least the food is healthy-ish, but it's still a cheap and cheerful joint that few would consider suitable for a birthday celebration. Who knew that in Bulawayo, it was the hippest place to be on a Friday night. Getting a table looked like a tricky task with the sizeable queue that had formed at the front counter.

We secured one just in time because barely a few minutes after we had sat down, demand for seats soared. The Pakistan team had arrived.

Many of the locals weren't overly enamoured by the entrance of international cricketers and went about their eating of peri-peri chicken without taking any of notice of them. It was a good opportunity for the team to relax in an environment where they were unlikely to be bombarded by requests for autographs or photographs or be mobbed by a mass.

All of them sat down, except Younis Khan, who studied the menu before making a few recommendations. It was only when Shoaib Malik arrived a few minutes later that the ordering took place, with Malik doing most of the talking. Ironically, Misbah and Waqar were the only two members who were not there.

Nandos failed to cast a similar spell over the Zimbabwe team, who had found somewhere else to eat, but it was the restaurant of choice for local lad Keegan Meth, the Zimbabwe allrounder, and his girlfriend. Meth has only just started eating solid foods again after four of his teeth were knocked out 12 days ago. Meth was "smacked in the speaker," as the locals say, while bowling to Bangladesh's Nasir Hossain, who hit the ball straight back at him. He had stitches removed from his lip earlier in the day and said he was able to get food to the back of his mouth to chew it there.

Sportsmen of all flavours have been to Nandos recently. Earlier this week, members of a few African hockey teams, who are in Zimbabwe to play Olympic qualifiers which started last night (Zimbabwe lost 0-5 to Egypt), also dined there.