Pakistan’s record in test cricket in the last 5 years has been quite poor. Shoaib Akhtar, Muhammad Asif, Muhammad Amir or http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Danish-Kaneria-c1314 have been heavily involved in whatever success Pakistan has tasted in the primary format of the game since 2004.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 in UAE. Considering the strength of the Pakistani team and the controversies they have been facing for the past 1 year, no one gave Pakistan a chance against South
Africa, especially in the Test series.
But Pakistan cricket is the name of unpredictability and it can deliver anything at any given time. No one expected Pakistan to save the Dubai Test on the final day but Younis Khan, Azhar Ali and Misbah-ul-Haq batted like champions to save the 1st
test of the series.
The situation was quite similar on the 5th day of the Abu Dhabi Test as well as South Africa was leading by 323 runs before the start of play. Surprisingly, Proteas did not declare on the over-night score. They decided to bat further for 6 overs
and added 30 more runs in that time while losing a wicket of Mark Boucher who was bowled by Umar Gul.
South Africa decided to declare at 203 for the loss of 5 wickets and gave Pakistan a target of 354 runs to win but that did not seem likely on a 5th day track and Pakistan’s job was just to save the test and with that the series.
The South African defensive tactics were quite hard to understand as they consumed too much time in setting up a target for Pakistan. South Africa should have been much more aggressive so that they could put more pressure on the Pakistan batting. A lead
of 353 runs was way more than what the Proteas needed to be on the safer side.
Pakistan resumed its innings with confidence as Muhammad Hafeez and Taufeeq Umar both played with intent and went through the 1st session without any hiccups at all. But Pakistan had to face a real scare when the top 3 batsmen were dismissed on
the same score as Pakistan slumped from 66 for none to 66 for 3.
But captain Misbah-ul-Haq and the impressive youngster Azhar Ali came to rescue Pakistan once again. Misbah played some shots in between but Azhar showed strong temperament and made sure that there are no further threats for Pakistan.
Both of them batted together for 45.2 overs before both the captains decided to call it a day.
Misbah was the top-scorer with an unbeaten 58 and Azhar was not out on 28. For South Africa, Paul Harris dismissed 2 batsmen while Botha got Taufeeq Umer.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AB-de-Villiers-c887 was named Man of the Match for his marathon innings of 278 not out and all-rounder Jacques Kallis was given Man of the Series award.
All in all, it was a well fought series where South Africa had the upper hand in both the Test matches but at the same time the Proteas would be frustrated with the series result.
On the other hand, Pakistan have a lot of positives to take from this series with Azhar Ali settling into a solid number 3 batsman and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972 leading from the front. The only concern however, remains the bowling department in the absence of primary
bowlers of Pakistan.
Tags: