South Africa gains advantage with victory over Pakistan
South Africa 380 and 139 for 2 (Amla 44*, Kallis, 32*) lead Pakistan 248 (Hafeez 60, Azhar 56, Morkel 5-54) by 271 runs
South Africa took down Pakistan on the third day of the opening Test in Dubai with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Morne-Morkel-c77722 winning the day, earning the team a major advantage.
It was a well closed innings, executed with textbook precision, and Pakistan will have to fight hard from here on in if it wants to progress in the Test.
Pakistan's performance on the second day had raised hopes for a close game, hopes that were all but lost by the time the batting subsided, after reaching a potentially exciting 176 for 2.
Pakistan’s failure, with Younis Khan dismissed, and Saeed Ajmal handing Morkel his fifth wicket, was a crushing 8 for 72, and it may prove difficult for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 to recover from the blow. They are currently down to one frontline quick bowler.
Botha took three wickets in the morning session, and then Morkel wrapped up the innings with the second new ball to finish with for 5 for 54, leaving South Africa in a good position to win, reaching an advantage of 271 by the end.
That being said, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757’s play was anything but exciting, and their game plan was conservative. They consistently added to the lead and stayed fixed on building a base for later on.
South Africa was at a considerable advantage from the beginning with top order and Pakistan still feeling the pain of its most recent batting disappointment, which left them in a precarious situation.
Graeme Smith and Alviro Peterson were given leg before wicket by Asoka de Silva, while Hashim Amla and Jaques Kallis didn’t spread themselves too thin, playing a careful game that won them a solid advantage and consistent gains. Andre Botha received a delivery
which took the glove and Misbah played forward with a successful low dive by Albie Amla.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972, Pakistan's Test captain, set himself a long innings, but was thwarted with a great catch by Hashim Amla. Ul-Haq, is the fourth Test Captain of the year for Pakistan it was in his interest to win the game. Despite his valiant efforts, he was
not able to stop South Africa’s win, a win that has driven Pakistan to bottom of the barrel in the Test.
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