Who would have thought of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 drawing the Dubai Test on the 5th day, especially after considering their performance in the 1st innings and the record of Pakistani batting line-up for the last 2 years.
But like always, you can expect anything from Pakistan keeping in mind their unpredictable nature.
Today was a heartening day for Pakistan cricket as the odds were completely against them and nobody thought that they would bat throughout the final day. At the end of the Test match, Pakistan would definitely be the happier side of the two.
All the Pakistan batsmen showed courage, temperament and mental strength to cope with the South African bowling today. The good thing about Pakistan batting was that they were positive and played their strokes. Younis, Misbah and Azhar nicely mixed aggression
with solid defence and they did not get bobbed down like in the 1st innings. Their positive intent can be judged by 5 towering sixes hit by Younis and Misbah on a track that was offering assistance to the spinners.
Younis Khan scored his 17th Test match hundred with an unbeaten 131 with the captain Misbah ul Haq scoring 76 not out. Both of them were making a comeback in Test cricket. This makes their performance even more strong and heartening. Younis played
his last Test match against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 at Colombo in 2009. It’s a pity that a top-order batsman of his calibre was not allowed to play Test cricket for more than 15 months. However, this is a dream come back and probably a question-mark on the think-tank of
Pakistan Cricket Board.
Misbah was also due for a big innings as he is the captain of the side and it is imperative for him to lead from the front. Azhar Ali scored his fourth Test fifty and second of the match. He played brilliantly, considering the fact that he did spend a lot
of time on the crease even after a painful blow Monday evening by Dale Steyn.
Although Pakistani batsmen played well and showed character, South African bowlers bowled their heart out too without any success. In the fielding, it was quite unlike South Africa today as they dropped 3 crucial catches, which could have been the difference
between a victory and a drawn Test. First, Mark Boucher spilled an easy chance in the 4th over of the day when Younis khan edged http://www.senore.com/Cricket/A-Dale-c41085 Steyn delivery outside the off-stump. Things would have been completely different for Pakistan if that catch
was taken. Then after lunch, Hashim Amla and Jaques Kallis dropped a couple of difficult chances but these catches should have been taken on a flat track like this and especially considering South African fielding standards.
Left arm spinner Paul Harris took the only wicket that fell in the day with a beauty that bamboozled Azhar Ali. All in all, South African spinners would be disappointed with their performance as high quality spin bowlers are expected to run through the batting
line-ups on the last day of a Test match. This remains the only concern for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 in the 1st Test.
Younis Khan was adjudged Man-of-the-Match because of his match saving ton on the final day. Pakistan team can take a lot of heart from this performance and this effort on the final day should lift the morale of the team. They will be feeling confident going
into the second Test to be played in Abu Dhabi from 20 November.
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