the first match at Colombo earned him a man of the match award, and ensured Pakistan's victory by 301 runs. Scroring fifties—85 and 77 runs—in both the innings of the first Test against Australia at Karachi in September 1994, Anwar helped Pakistan led the three match series 1–0. In the same season against Zimbabwe, he was unsuccessful with bat in the away series; he only managed 45 runs playing in four innings of two Tests. Anwar scored three consecutive fifties against Sri Lanka in the 1995 home series. In the series, he played three innings scoring 154 runs with an average of 51.50. In the 1996 Pakistan's tour of England, a three-Test match series was played between the teams. Pakistan won the series by 2–0, their fifth consecutive series win against England. Anwar remained the second highest run scorer with 362 runs – only behind Alec Stewart's 396 – with an average of 60.33. He scored 88 and 74 runs in the first Test at Lord's, and 176 and one runs in the third match at The Oval. In the 1996–97 season, he played two Tests against the touring Zimbabwe and aggregated 182 runs in three innings, the second highest after Wasim Akram's 292. In the same season, Anwar replaced injured Akram as captain for the home series against New Zealand. He was the second highest run-scorer once again, accumulating 157 runs in three innings, including 149 in the second Test at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. In the next home series, against South Africa in 1997–98, he only scored 40 runs in four innings at the average of 8.00. He aggregated 236 runs in the away series against the same team—only behind Azhar Mahmood's 327. He scored 118 runs in the second Test at Kingsmead Cricket Ground, which allowed Pakistan to win a Test match for the first time in South Africa. Anwar scored 150 runs at the average of 37.50, during Pakistan's tour to Zimbabwe. In the 1998–99 season, Anwar played two Tests against the touring Australia, and scored 290 at the average of 96.66, including two centuries. His partnership of 120 runs with Mushtaq Ahmed, for the ninth, prevented Pakistan's collapse in the first innings of the first Test at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. He scored 145 runs in the match, but Pakistan lost the match by an innings and 99 runs. In the next home series, Anwar played