It was heroics inning of Inzi who came on No. 8 in 1st inning and took Pakistan from 166 to 265 :k:
In 2nd inning Younis and Kamran partnership of 99* gave Pakistan a victory
Asif 7, Danish 7 and Shoaib Akhtar took 4 (shoaib didn’t bowl in 2nd inning)
SA scored 124 & 300
So onceagain if our bowlers click then ultimately our batting line will be able to score 250 in each inning. Coz our batting line is one of the fragile battling line up so our bowlers should paly their role. I know getting out on 49 is v bad but still we can come back.
Only way to come back in this series is to start making some runs for a change. Cricket is a team game, being good in one discipline only is just not good enough at this level. Batsmen need to raise their game and show patience at the wicket. They must cut out unnecessary shots esp. fishing outside the off stump. Even the best attack in the world - and our current attack is decent rather than menacing, we all knew that Ajmal won't have the same success on the seam-friendly South African pitches - cannot consistently defend below par totals.
Our current top 6 doesn't really fill me with confidence. Azhar has patience but he has an awkward technique & stance; besides he is not someone who can dominate the bowling. Hafeez is too inconsistent in tests. 2 of the 3 Jamshed, Misbah and Asad will have to score big if we are to compete at Cape Town. Hope Younis gets back into something like reasonable form in this test. Not only is the batting brittle & unpredictable but it also lacks depth (wicket-keeper can't bat, no genuine all-rounder at 7 or 8)
The big Q is, can our batting line-up score 600+/- (combined) runs in the test or negotiate the new ball better than in Johannesburg? I have my doubts!
I think Pakistan has come back in a way. The second test could have gone either way and it is just sad that Pakistan lost. Let us hope for the best for the next test.
Basically Pakistan need to find a wicket-keeper who can bat as well plus we need a genuine all-rounder at 7 or 8. You need to bat down to 8 atleast in tests (and ODIs). It is very rare in tests that all 5 or 6 of your main batsmen would score runs in the same innings. Hence you need depth in batting.
Captain, among the top 6, I only have confidence in Younis and Asad. Azhar Ali (ungainly stance, looks awkward at the crease anyway) is a poor man's Ijaz Ahmed. I still have doubts over his technique. Misbah can't go on for ever and Jamshed is still new to test cricket.
But you also need batting depth
I expressed doubts over Sarfraz's batting ability even before the start of the test series and the rest is history.
SA managed to get up to 326 from a precarious 109/5 in the first innings mainly because they still had DeVilliers and Peterson (just shows the depth in their batting)
If Pakistan had been in their position, we probably would not have scored more than 150-175!! That to me is the real batting difference between the two sides
Our #7-11 are contributing absolutely nothing with the bat which is just not good enough at this level
Can the swap Sarfaraz with Adnan during a series? or do they have to get sarafaraz injured (via a bouncer or two from irfan in the nets or a dinky one from ajmal which land not so softly on sarfaraz's nose or mouth)
Captain, among the top 6 I only have confidence in Younis and Asad. Azhar Ali (ungainly stance, looks awkward at the crease anyway) is a poor man's Ijaz Ahmed. I still have doubts over his technique. Misbah can't go on for ever and Jamshed is still new to test cricket.
But you also need batting depth
I expressed doubts over Sarfraz's batting ability even before the start of the test series and the rest is history.
SA managed to get up to 326 from a precarious 109/5 in the first innings mainly because they still had DeVilliers and Peterson (just shows the depth in their batting)
If Pakistan had been in their position, we probably would not have scored more than 150-175!! That to me is the real batting difference between the two sides
Our #7-11 is contributing absolutely nothing with the bat which is just not good enough at this level
No, you are forgetting that our "specialty" bowlers were not really 'specialty' bowlers barring Saeed Ajmal who else is a good specialist bowler in this team? Irfan is debutant, Umar Gul is internationally recognized mediocre, Tanvir is a pie-thrower like Razzaq (in Tests), Hafeez is a part-timer/all-rounder, so letting SA recover from 110/5 to 320+ was not necessarily because their batting has depth but because our bowling was shallow plus captaincy.
No, you are forgetting that our "specialty" bowlers were not really 'specialty' bowlers barring Saeed Ajmal who else is a good specialist bowler in this team? Irfan is debutant, Umar Gul is internationally recognized mediocre, Tanvir is a pie-thrower like Razzaq (in Tests), Hafeez is a part-timer/all-rounder, so letting SA recover from 110/5 to 320+ was not necessarily because their batting has depth but because our bowling was shallow plus captaincy.
2 Key issues. Bowling is obvious. Captain did not give the all rounder enough of a chance and then him team selection with coach also did not induct a second spinner who actually can also bat a bit into the side.
