Re: 1st Test: Pakistan v South Africa, Johannesburg, Feb 1-5, 2013
Current partnership101 runs, 45.1 overs, RR: 2.23 (Misbah-ul-Haq 44, Asad Shafiq 53)
Asad Shafiq 53 on 144 balls and Misbah-ul-Haq 44 on 138 balls is far better then a quick 40 on 35 balls. This is called Test Cricket. At least if we have some close contest we can go for draw. Althought here situation is entirely different but they are showing some character.
Just remembering the marathon inning of Hanif Muhammad against top class team of WI Lets hope this pair will play whole day tomorrow
Re: 1st Test: Pakistan v South Africa, Johannesburg, Feb 1-5, 2013
Take a bow at Steyn. Whatta bowler. He truly deserved the 10fer.
Hard luck Pak, the take away for pak is the way their middle order responded to the challenge in the second innings. They made more than anybody expected from them.
Now the pak batsmen looks accustomed the real series start from next match.
Re: 1st Test: Pakistan v South Africa, Johannesburg, Feb 1-5, 2013
Pak 268 all out.
A much better performance compared to the first innings. I was hoping for a total around 300 but still this will restore some moral in the camp. Lets hope they perform better in the remaining matches. Go Pak.
Re: 1st Test: Pakistan v South Africa, Johannesburg, Feb 1-5, 2013
Pakistan's batting problems are not helped by the fact that we lack:
a wicket-keeper (Both Adnan and Sarfraz are not genuine batsmen) who can bat well at 7 or 8
a genuine all-rounder at 7 or 8
Our batting effectively stops at #6. Look at the top two teams in world cricket. SA have DeVilliers who is a genuine batsmen (Ave 49.96, 15 test hundreds) and England have Prior (Ave: 43.19, 6 test hundreds). Australia had Gilchrist until 2007/8, NZ have McCullum, India have Dhoni (though he is a better batsman in the limited overs format). Lanka had Sangakkara until he gave up the wicket-keeping duties a few years ago
Pak batting is not only weak but it also lacks depth. Given our our fragile and unpredictable batting, 6 batsmen are not enough to compete with a top side in their own backyard
Re: 1st Test: Pakistan v South Africa, Johannesburg, Feb 1-5, 2013
Kiddos to all of you who watched 49/all out inning :D
U know the editors at Sky and other TV station were happy coz they didn't need to cut and chop the whole days play for 30min highlights ..... the innings in it's totality provided that itself ..... so apart from SA and it's Fans there are a few others who were Happy
BTW our Neighbours are always Happy watching us gettig blown away only to discover that later in the year it's their turn to Dance to the tune :D
Re: 1st Test: Pakistan v South Africa, Johannesburg, Feb 1-5, 2013
Steyn (11/60) was the difference between the two sides. The best bowler in the world by a country mile. 323 wickets in 63 tests at 22.67 with SR 40.8, 21 times 5wI, 5 times 10wM. An all-time great in my book, arguably South Africa’s greatest fast bowler ever, even pipping the great Allan Donald
Steyn’s fiery and tough on the field and a gentleman off it. Always humble and down to earth in post match presentations. And that is something to be greatly admired
DeVilliers (100 and a record-equalling 11 catches) had a great game too.
Not many positives for Pakistan apart from decent bowling display on the first day and slightly improved batting in the second innings. I say slightly because I still have doubts that our batting can consistently score 300+ per innings on fast tracks
The intensity was off once South Africa had dismissed Pakistan very cheaply in the first innings. Had SA been defending 250-300 in the last innings, who’s to say that Steyn and co. would not have bundled us out again for 100-150!
Re: 1st Test: Pakistan v South Africa, Johannesburg, Feb 1-5, 2013
^this Bowling line up even in there own back yard can be played and Misbah + Shafiq showed that
But Fishing outside off + playing quasi horizontal batshots to swinging deliveries is the best we can come up with
How many were caught by other than the Keeper + Slip cordon ????
That alone tells the Lack of technique + Temprament is one of the biggest hurdle for these guys to learn .....
Asad Shafiq got caught same way in both innings only for the 2nd time it was a no ball ..... Same mistake all over again and i'm speaking of the guy who looked a touch Solid out there
PPL are making this Bowling line up more that what it is ..... It's a good combination no question about but it's impact is highlighted by the lack of impact from the opposition
Not Long ago Australia chased down 300+ Score against Steyn and Co in SAF.
Although SA won the Series down-under but Aussies did score against them heavily
Re: 1st Test: Pakistan v South Africa, Johannesburg, Feb 1-5, 2013
^ Both batted sensibly but both perished soon after the second new ball (our biggest weakness)
batsmen need to defend resolutely / play the ball on merit (? take singles and doubles here and there) during the first 20-25 overs. Fishing or wafting outside off stump is so often our undoing
Also the preparation was not ideal, just ONE first class game before the test. PCB should insist on playing atleast 2-3 three day or four-day games esp. on away tours in Australia, England and South Africa in order to give their players esp. batsmen the best chance to adapt to the new conditions. The board must take major blame for this
Re: 1st Test: Pakistan v South Africa, Johannesburg, Feb 1-5, 2013
As I said above itinerary is awful:
[QUOTE]
** the gap between the 1st & 2nd test is 10 days and even in this they will be playing only one 2-day match. What is the logic ?
The gap between the 1st & 2nd Test could have been reduced to 5/6 days by postponing the 1st match, so that they could have got 2 practice games before the start of the series.**
Lets hope this pair will play whole day tomorrow 
