The first Test match between Pakistan and South Africa was indeed a topsy-turvy affair.
After a fantastically breathtaking string of close encounters in the One Day series, twists and turns were expected in the Test match too and it certainly did not disappoint.
On the first day then Graeme Smith won the toss and chose to bat on a placid track, keeping in mind both teams had gone in with two specialist spinners each. After a nervous start, the two openers Alviro Petersen and Graeme Smith finally got into the groove
in the hot conditions and give the South Africans a good solid start with a partnership of 153.
Smith scored exactly 100 while Petersen contributed 67 to his team’s cause.
Pakistani bowlers toiled hard all day without much luck, and the in-form pair of Kallis and Amla consolidated with a partnership of 117. At the end of the day Kallis was not out on 53, Amla perishing near the end of the day having scored 80 runs.
With the South Africans at 311 for 3 and having lost one of only two pacemen, namely Wahab Riaz, in their line-ups overnight with a side strain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 must have been ruing the day ahead. But as is the case so often with Pakistani teams, this team too performed
near their very best with their backs to the wall on the second morning of the match.
Umar Gul specially bowled his heart out taking 3 wickets in the first session. The spinners Ajmal and Rehman supported him well and Pakistan were able to dismiss South Africa for 380 which was a huge effort considering South Africa’s position after the first
day.
Pakistani openers surprisingly started confidently, complementing each other perfectly with Mohammad Hafeez creaming drives and smashing pull shots and Taufeeq Umar being watchful. The partnership of 105 ended, when Hafeez playing beautifully on 60 had one
of his moments of madness and scooped a shot to mid-on.
Taufeeq Umar followed shortly afterwards and Pakistan finished the day on 144 for 2.
On the third day Pakistan suffered yet another one of their inexplicable batting collapses, losing their last 8 wickets for just 72 runs, owing to some good bowling by the South Africans and to some rash shots by their own batsmen.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Morne-Morkel-c77722 returned with a fine 5-wicket haul, a fantastic achievement for a fast bowler on such a dull track. Azhar Ali held the innings together somewhat with a 172-ball 56, but he too got out when it was needed for him to keep sticking it out in the
middle.
With a lead of 132 in the bag after the first innings of both teams had been concluded, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 must have had all the confidence in the world, and it showed in their batting.
Despite the relatively cheap dismissals of their two openers, Pakistan’s chief tormenters of the first innings, Amla and Kallis, combined again in a mammoth unbeaten 242-run partnership during which they treated every Pakistani bowler with disdain, thereby
dashing any hopes of another Pakistani revival and allowed South Africa to declare with their total lead past 450 runs on the fourth day.
Kallis remained not out on 135 while Amla gave him good company throughout with an unbeaten 118.
A target of 451 was improbable for Pakistan to say the least, a team whose highest score in the 4th innings of a Test match this year has been a meagre 170. However, hope and pride is all a team can call upon in a time of crisis such as this, and the openers
Hafeez and Taufeeq did give hope to the rest of the team signalling to the South Africans that they were ready to fight for their pride. Even though they did play some good shots, the two were back in the pavilion by the end of the fourth day.
On the start of the 5th day Azhar Ali and Younis Khan showed some good powers of concentration. Azhar was especially brave in his innings, having been struck many times by bouncers he refused to back down, but was eventually dismissed by a beauty from Harris
after he had scored 63 runs.
His dismissal left Misbah and Younis to do the majority of the holding work if Pakistan were to save the match, with two whole sessions ahead of them. The experienced duo went about doing the job admirably aided by some uncharacteristic fielding lapses by
the Proteas.
They mixed aggressive shots with their watchful defence after regular intervals. South African bowlers started to get frustrated in the latter part of the day and even got the usually cool Younis Khan riled up enough to respond to their jibes, but even then
the batsman did not lose his head and he and captain Misbah steered Pakistan to 343 for 3 just after the last hour was called.
With the match all but surely drawn the two captains decided to officially call it a draw with Younis not out on 131 and Misbah unbeaten on 76. The two came together in a fine 186-run partnership to navigate Pakistan away from danger and earn themselves
a draw when defeat looked inevitable.
South Africa must be disappointed with the result, but Pakistan can take heart from their batting performance in the 4th innings. The draw in Dubai nicely sets up the next and final match in Abu Dhabi, which starts in 3-days time.
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