Pakistan end Day 1 of the 1st Test on 33/4 after bowling out South Africa for 220

[Justcrazy]

Wrong.

Babaar already failed

[Justcrazy]

I think Pakistan is still in the game, if they get couple of solid partnerships here they will be in lead. Pakistan should make sure they are not chasing more than 200 in the fourth innings here . That is the key.

[Justcrazy]

For the 100th time, india hasn't prepared a dust bowl for over 10 years now and our wickets assist pace more. Are you still pretending to be indian and a test fan when ypu don't even know such basic facts?

No indian will make this mistake, I can understand Pakistanis not following every match we play

Since Kohli came I think the pitches have been sporting , to be honest I think Indian strength is pacers not spin nowadays.

[ask_analyse_act]

I think Pakistan is still in the game, if they get couple of solid partnerships here they will be in lead. Pakistan should make sure they are not chasing more than 200 in the fourth innings here . That is the key.

they cant even chase 100...

[Hasan123]

Yeah, half the specialist batting gone and people are talking about taking a 100 run lead.

That said the calibre of the dismissed batsmen means it probably wouldn't have made much difference to the score in the end, other than Babar obviously. I don't think anyone expects runs from the openers these days, not even on flat tracks.

To be really comfortable we would need a lead of about 100 but that’s unlikely due to our batting today.


We are playing at home, I did expect better from Abid Ali. They should have at least been able to get us to the end of today. But when mediocre batters are facing bowlers like Rabada and Norje, I shouldn’t be shocked at today’s batting.

[Buffet]

Pakistan are 33/4. So we need another 300 runs to get a 100 run lead or around that. All rounders and tailenders can get that much? Lol

I was talking about SA getting 100 runs lead. I doubt that SA will get it because Pakistan has enough batting left. Even 50-60 runs lead will be good for SA.

[Justcrazy]

To be really comfortable we would need a lead of about 100 but that’s unlikely due to our batting today.


We are playing at home, I did expect better from Abid Ali. They should have at least been able to get us to the end of today. But when mediocre batters are facing bowlers like Rabada and Norje, I shouldn’t be shocked at today’s batting.

The batting Pakistan has is very mediocre, people and analysts have to accept this truth, there is no excuse about it. Even the best Pakistan talent would be the second tier in the world.

This has always been the case. None of Pakistan batsmen have ever dominated consistently top attacks , whether it was Miandad or Zaheer Abbas or Majid Khan or Inzamam or Younis.

[Napa]

Since Kohli came I think the pitches have been sporting , to be honest I think Indian strength is pacers not spin nowadays.

Ashwin is ranked #8, Jadeja #14, Bumrah #9 and Shami #14. So both spin and pace are pretty good.

[Babu Bhaiya]

For the 100th time, india hasn't prepared a dust bowl for over 10 years now and our wickets assist pace more. Are you still pretending to be indian and a test fan when ypu don't even know such basic facts?

No indian will make this mistake, I can understand Pakistanis not following every match we play

Why do you bother with Bhagoda??? He pretends to be in Delhi while sitting in Karachi.

[sensible-indian-fan]

For the 100th time, india hasn't prepared a dust bowl for over 10 years now and our wickets assist pace more. Are you still pretending to be indian and a test fan when ypu don't even know such basic facts?

No indian will make this mistake, I can understand Pakistanis not following every match we play

I get your message but it ain't true.

Mumbai 2012 (this you can maybe argue)
Chennai 2013
Delhi 2013
Mohali 2015
Nagpur 2015
Pune 2017
Bangalore 2017 (it later turned into one)

India has had a healthy mix of all types of pitches.

Post 2017, we haven't had a dust bowl.

[Bigboii]

@Thunderbolt14 you legend!!!

You were not being your usual self and you were a bit pessimistic and in response I said we got this in the bag
but you were right Pak team is really going through a bad time rn

[sensible-indian-fan]

As I keep saying, nothing wrong with dust bowls.

You start at one place and move your way up.

For years I have been talking about the inferiority complex of Asians to bag our own style of pitches.... If other Asian teams are flowing suit... Good for them.

Atleast they are changing.

[sensible-indian-fan]

As I keep saying, nothing wrong with dust bowls.

You start at one place and move your way up.

For years I have been talking about the inferiority complex of Asians to bag our own style of pitches.... If other Asian teams are flowing suit... Good for them.

Atleast they are changing.

*following

[Yk313]

There was seemingly nothing in the pitch from my observations. It was just poor batting decisions that put us in this situation. Abid playing a poor shot, Imran falling victim to pressure, Babar not getting bat on ball, and Shaheen was just done by a really good yorker.

If we can string a 100 partnership between Azhar and Fawad, that's the only way we can stay in the game. Rabada started his spell by bowling very wide and then brought one right on off stump, a ball that didn't even seam and beat Abid Ali. It's either that there wasn't enough practice before the series, or something else, because that was a basic mistake.

It will be difficult, but if we can post 300, we can really take the game by the head. The goal should be to bat the least number of overs on Days 4 and 5, and have the least deficit.

Our top order needs to wake up, because Fawad, Rizwan, and Faheem can't save you in every match. Right now, even against NZ, Fawad, Rizwan, and Faheem were the reason why Pakistan didn't get bowled out for under 200 consistently.

Need to play balls on merit, and play positive cricket when it is required. Look for singles and doubles, it's a matter of boundaries which will change the field placements which South Africa is employing. You need to apply pressure to get an opening in the closely packed field. The ball is about 20 overs old now, so Maharaj will be bowling the majority of overs.

I was really disappointed with our openers, both failed miserably. At this rate, I think that Abid should be dropped for Haider Ali, or Azhar Ali stepping up to open. There's only those two options, no other options are feesible at this stage.

Personally, I think that we really need to introduce some youngsters in the top order, because our so-called experienced domestic products are failing. If Abid fails, either bring in Abdullah Shafique or bump Azhar higher up the order, and bring Saud in.

SA bowlers do have a change in bowling stats against left handers, so he could be a defining factor.

Nothing fiendish about the pitch or the majority of the deliveries that we got out to. In fairness, going by the comments, the same applies for SAF wickets that fell.

Having said that there is uneven bounce to the extent that we can say the pitch has uneven bounce and smart bowlers/team can exploit that to some degree.

The day's play will not be making it to YouTube with the tags: "Minefield", "Injury hazard" et cetera, though, we can rest assured about that.

Butt is the only one who can be cut some slack and that too because the ball rose slightly off the length. He cannot be absolved in entirety because even if the ball had not risen, he was going to be in an ideal position to play it and would likely have been in an awkward position - at least that is what it looked like in real time.

No point beating about the bush. Abid, Azhar, Fawad should have been our go to guys in these conditions. One of them has trodden off, chewing gum, with the same languid indifference that has marked his customary fashion overseas.

It is a damning admission of where PAK is - not just within the realms of cricket but beyond that too - that despite having known the kind of pitch we had placed an order for, we were unable to proactively negate/exploit it during our innings.

From the way we are batting and reacting to the pitch, one would think SAF have been getting chummy with the curator.

[Saj]

Sri Lanka's batting was awful against England recently and the batting we saw today in Karachi wasn't much better.

South Africa batted as if they hadn't faced spinners in their lives and Pakistan batted as Pakistan do these days.

[MenInG]

Short highlights from today's play

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[Yk313]

He has no strength thats why.

Enough physical and cricketing attributes to be a able to fashion a decent career. Ball in our court now.

[Yk313]

I guess pitch deteriorated in a gradual manner and first session when SA batted was with pretty even bounce. However lack of accuracy and consistency of Pak pacers is not a hidden fact either. Also Shaheen is kiss the surface bowler more than hit the pitch hard bowler unlike SA pacers, something he needs to learn for certain surfaces.

No way to isolate and check the correlation and causation in regards to the deterioration of the pitch. Too many variables in this sport anyway to make such comparisons.

Never watched SAF innings so best not to write detailed comments but expect the apportionment of the blame to be greater on the home side.

Agree re. Shaheen - my comment was intended to be more or less rhetorical here. For someone of his height and a reasonably strong action he needs to try and hit the deck sometimes. Have seen him try and do this on occasion but then he continues doing just then stops bowling it 'through' completely.

Maybe a switched on captain/bowling partner at mid-off may be better but no guarantees as with anything in life.

[Napa]

invariable bounce, Pakistan are against the ropes here big time

Awful awful pitch

Rashid Latif warned the management of pitch having invariable bounce if they try to create a spin track on this ground

Do you guys mean "variable" rather than "invariable"? Invariable means something that is constant, for example a pitch with consistent bounce.

[Yk313]

Yeah and Pakistan is the first team to do so. They are playing at home against a decent side after so many years. Let them do what other subcontinent teams like India and Sri Lanka have been doing it for ages.

Had to trace the quotes all the way back to your comment here to try and understand why you've been labelled a KHI resident.

Something that may never change in the subcontinent.

Sigh.

[mastimasti]

The bounce has become very uneven, from first session to the final when Shaheen was bowled barely above his ankles. That is no excuse, as I think players with experience should be clear about playing on the front foot and not backing off as a couple of these guys did.

[CricketBuff]

Yep most selfish thing you can do, i questioned that myself

Its the night watchman who is supposed to protect the established batsman !!

[UzmanBeast]

It started to turn sharply and had variable bounce in 2nd session.

Not sure what else is a dust bowl.

The variable bounce which the South Africans generated was because they banged the ball onto the surface, whereas our bowlers did something completely different.

Our fast bowlers failed to apply pressure, otherwise we'd have bowled SA out for less than 200, perhaps around 170.

Nevertheless, the surface is very condusive to spin bowling, but SA have one spinner in Maharaj. We should make sure that we are taking singles and rotating strike against him, because allowing SA to bowl maidens will only harm us.

[Shoaibbtt]

Its the night watchman who is supposed to protect the established batsman !!

maybe could've sent someone else out like Yasir but sense would prevail and have the tailender face the last 2 balls of the over. Anyways what's done is done, they should've used sense and sent out Yasir.

[Hasan123]

The batting Pakistan has is very mediocre, people and analysts have to accept this truth, there is no excuse about it. Even the best Pakistan talent would be the second tier in the world.

This has always been the case. None of Pakistan batsmen have ever dominated consistently top attacks , whether it was Miandad or Zaheer Abbas or Majid Khan or Inzamam or Younis.

Pakistan batting is poor but it should not be 33-4.

[Shoaibbtt]

The variable bounce which the South Africans generated was because they banged the ball onto the surface, whereas our bowlers did something completely different.

Our fast bowlers failed to apply pressure, otherwise we'd have bowled SA out for less than 200, perhaps around 170.

Nevertheless, the surface is very condusive to spin bowling, but SA have one spinner in Maharaj. We should make sure that we are taking singles and rotating strike against him, because allowing SA to bowl maidens will only harm us.

Linde is a spinner as well. I don't know about any of these bowlers and what their averages are against lefties and righties. I reckon Mahraj might not be as effective against lefties and I've never seen Linde.

[UzmanBeast]

Nothing fiendish about the pitch or the majority of the deliveries that we got out to. In fairness, going by the comments, the same applies for SAF wickets that fell.

Having said that there is uneven bounce to the extent that we can say the pitch has uneven bounce and smart bowlers/team can exploit that to some degree.

The day's play will not be making it to YouTube with the tags: "Minefield", "Injury hazard" et cetera, though, we can rest assured about that.

Butt is the only one who can be cut some slack and that too because the ball rose slightly off the length. He cannot be absolved in entirety because even if the ball had not risen, he was going to be in an ideal position to play it and would likely have been in an awkward position - at least that is what it looked like in real time.

No point beating about the bush. Abid, Azhar, Fawad should have been our go to guys in these conditions. One of them has trodden off, chewing gum, with the same languid indifference that has marked his customary fashion overseas.

It is a damning admission of where PAK is - not just within the realms of cricket but beyond that too - that despite having known the kind of pitch we had placed an order for, we were unable to proactively negate/exploit it during our innings.

From the way we are batting and reacting to the pitch, one would think SAF have been getting chummy with the curator.

We are in a seriously dire situation, particularly our test match cricket.

I'd suggest bringing in the likes of Haider Ali into the test squad, they might not be season in FC cricket, and I'm a big believer of FC experience, but we don't have any quality openers.

The least we could do is see how a youngster responds to the pressure of international cricket, because if we find a consistent opener in either Haider or Abdullah, it would go a long way for us.

There was nothing special about the pitch, the uneven bounce was not even terrible, it was quite negotiable. It required that batsmen play with a straight bat and with soft hands, allowing the ball to meet the bat at an angle where even uneven bounce would be negated, but instead, our batsmen batted immaturely.

Abid Ali is such a one dimensional test match player, the moment you apply pressure on him through good bowling, he gives away his wicket. We saw that with Abid Ali against Bangladesh, New Zealand, England, and now South Africa. The minute you put a few maidens together, he succumbs to the pressure.

Personally, I can't even comprehend why Saud Shakeel wasn't in the playing XI. You picked Faheem Ashraf and had him bowl 5 overs, even Saud could have done that. Either make use of your fast-bowling all rounder, or don't play one in these conditions. All SA wickets so far have been right handers (except Shaheen, though I don't consider him a batsman). A lot of SA bowlers have completely different bowling averages against LHB. This was completely missed by the management, and they should know better than to go into a test match with all right handed top 4.

For the next game, since Imran Butt deserves another go, I'd go into Pindi with this:

Imran Butt
Azhar Ali/Abdullah Shafique (only one can play, and they have to open.)
Saud Shakeel
Babar Azam (c)
Fawad Alam
Salman Ali Agha
Mohammad Rizwan
Mohammad Nawaz
Shaheen Shah Afridi
Hasan Ali
Tabish Khan

I expect Pindi to be a pacer's paradise, so I'd include Nawaz and Salman Agha. However, I do realize that the Day 4 will be suitable for spinners, so whichever one of Yasir or Nauman performs better should replace Nawaz in the XI to accomodate spinners who turn it in two different ways.

[CricketBuff]

Last over of the day, Day belongs to SA here.

Very true. We threw away the home advantage.

[Abdullah]

Fawad and Rizwan the keys here. With lots of support from Azhar , faheem, Yasir and Hasan. Even nauman is no dud.
Can we be batting at close tomorrow. That is the question. Humongous first session

[qaiser]

The way I assess the two selected openers, none of them even going to cross 30 runs in an inning