http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 openers start confidently against a win hungry opposition
Pakistan openers started off the proceedings in a positive manner after facing a mammoth target of 354 runs. In the process, the opening pair assembled a 66-run stand in order to steady things for Pakistan.
In doing so, the duo, Taufeeq Umar and Mohammad Hafeez have hampered http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757’s hopes of winning the Test match to a certain extent. Both of them negated an early burst from Styen and Morkel to assist Pakistan in completing a draw.
Pakistan has shown composure and patience with their batting on the final day of 2nd Test match at Abu Dhabi. In addition, consistency has been rarely associated with their game, especially in the recent past.
The home team are chasing a massive total of 354 runs and even though they haven’t shown any intent to hunt it down as they batted patiently in the first session, yet it brought out the fighting spirit in them.
South Africa, in pursuit of winning the third series of the tour were made to work hard. The visitors toiled hard to get an early wicket, but the broad defensive bat of the openers ensured a wicket-less session for them.
In the start, Proteas did not declare the innings straight away as they batted for six overs in the first half of play. The overnight batsmen Ashwell Prince and Mark Boucher resumed the innings on a lead of 323/3.
The visiting team sent in their overnight pair to score runs in a brisk manner to put Pakistan under immense pressure. As a result, the tourists lost a few wickets in quick succession.
Ashwell Prince remained unbeaten for his gritty innings of 47 runs. The left hander added some abrupt runs in his well compiled innings as he cracked up a few crisp boundaries.
Pakistan bowlers did not allow room to the opposition for seemingly quick runs. Umar Gul and Abdur Rehman bowled accurately in order to restrict South Africa for a modest score in six overs’ play.
This time around, Gul delivered three incisive overs as he only conceded 6 runs and took 1 wicket. The delivery that earned him the prize wicket of Boucher was a beauty. It jagged back into the stumps off the seam to disturb the furniture.
On the fourth day, Abdur Rehman displayed an accurate spell of left-arm slow bowling as he grabbed four important wickets, taking 4/81. The left-arm spinner bowled with great courage and control against the mighty South African batting to restrict them to
a slow run-rate.
The 2nd Test appears to be a likely draw as South Africa needs 10 wickets to register a series win. On the other hand, Pakistan will look to bat throughout the day to save the Test match.
Tags: