SL vs Pakistan, 2nd Test, Day 1: Records Tumble as Pakistan take Control

[SOSami]

Pakistan made two changes from the first test, with captain Misbah-ul-Haq returning from his suspension for Mohammand Ayub and Aizaz Cheema coming in for the injured Umar Gul.

Sri Lanka won the toss and surprisingly elected to field and openers Hafeez and Taufeez strode out under not a little pressure, after a poor first test.

Taufeez was particularly aggressive, as he scored a rapid 65 off 74 balls. He was caught behind off Matthews. Jayawardene the keeper was standing up to the stumps and Taufeeq, who had dispatched similar deliveries to the boundary in the previous overs, walked, leaving Pakistan 78/1.

Azhar Ali joined Hafeez in the middle and the batsmen batted through to the lunch session with no real issues.


Lunch Session: Pakistan 94/1, Azhar Ali 8*, Mohammad Hefeez 20*

The post-lunch session saw Mohammad Hafeez take control, as he plundered 85 runs off just 98 balls off some hapless Sri Lankan bowling.

Hafeez has been a man under pressure as he's registered numerous ducks in all forms of cricket over the last few months, the pressure of captaining the side further exacerbating the situation.

However, batsmen out of form often have two choices - to graft or to hit their way to form. Hafeez chose the latter and his natural game shone though as he completed his century before tea.

He was offered a slice of luck when caught down the legside off Matthews, who was found to have overstepped by the umpires. Luck is usually in short supply for batsmen out of form and perhaps provided an indication of the positivity with which Hafeez had responded to his recent slump.

Azhar Ali batted in a typically sedate fashion, supporting Hafeez and ensuring Sir Lanka couldn't open up an end for their bowlers.

Tea: Pakistan 217/1, Mohammad Hafeez 105*, Azhar Ali 45*

The final session saw Pakistan edge closer to their highest second wicket partnership ever of 291, as Azhar and Hafeez took total control.

The day ended with the partnership on 256.

Hafeez also breezed past his highest test score, and will be looking to go past his highest first-class score of 180.

However all eyes will be on Azhar Ali tomorrow, as he is only 8 away from a third test century and has previously shown nervousness approaching three figures.

334/1 was also the second highest score by a Pakistan side on the first day of the test and will be aiming to captialise on this dominant start in their bid to restore parity in the test series and avoid losing captain Misbah's unbeated record in the seven series played at the helm.

End of Play: Pakistan 334/1, Azhar Ali 92*, Mohammad Hafeez 172*



Teams
Sri Lanka: 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Tharanga Paranavitana, 3 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 4 Kumar Sangakkara, 5 Thilan Samaraweera, 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), 8 Nuwan Kulasekara, 9 Suraj Randiv, 10 Rangana Herath, 11 Nuwan Pradeep.

Pakistan: 1 Taufeeq Umar, 2 Mohammad Hafeez, 3 Azhar Ali, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Asad Shafiq, 7 Adnan Akmal (wk), 8 Abdur Rehman, 9 Saeed Ajmal, 10 Aizaz Cheema, 11 Junaid Khan.

[khalil1986]

As flat as the pitch is I can't remember us having such a dominant batting day for years.

[Markhor]

Good analysis. It was a flat pitch and I'm surprised Mahela Jayawardene elected to bowl. We took full advantage of the conditions and that big innings from Hafeez will hopefully serve as a real confidence boost as he's looked far too hesitant in recent months with footwork and technique. Azhar Ali is proving to be a key number three batsman for us but I hope he can get that 100, he can often get stuck in the 80s/90s - he has 13 fifties but just 2 hundreds. Good start from our top-order but our middle-order needs to build on this, cannot afford the usual batting collapse tomorrow. 500-600 is a must on this surface, it is going to be tough to take 20 wickets on this flat road of a pitch.

[saeed-sohail]

Great day and epic pawnage for Hafeez haters. Now need to score another 267 with an hour to go tomorrow and tighten the screws on SL with men around the bat. Pressure can produce funny reactions and we might bowl them out cheaply.

[liaqat]

day 1 yet,

long way to go,

[Amjid Javed]

Conditions are flat and placid, there is some turn for the spinner albeit slow.

Pakistan have the platform so they need to look to bat till tea and get to 600 as quickly as possible. Plain and simple taking 20 wickets is going to be hard here and bowlers will need to bowl well and we can afford any dropped catches when we field. The quicker we try and advance the game the better the chances of winning it. Ajmal will need better support from other 3 bowlers then he got in the 1st test.

[James]

One wicket lost all day is a huge achievement! What a fantastic platform. Bat once, make it big and batter the Lankans.

[Akmal Dynasty]

Sanga, Mahela, Samaraweera and dilshan will also have a runfest dont worry.

[AZulfi]

Is the pitch too flat? We will know when Sri Lanka bat in this match

Pak should look to bat just once (bat all of day 2) and try & amass 600-650. No matter how dull or flat the pitch, the pressure of such big scores often induces unforced mistakes by the batsmen

[Akmal Dynasty]

When hafeez looks comfortable at the crease and not poking at slips than it is the sign of a flat pitch.

[khalil1986]

Originally Posted by Akmal Dynasty Sanga, Mahela, Samaraweera and dilshan will also have a runfest dont worry.

Ever heard of scoreboard pressure?

[JellyBro]

good batting display by the top order. I can't even remember the last time we made 300 runs in an innings.

[KingKhanWC]

A disgrace of a decision by Jaya to bowl first. Being 1-0 up, he could have batted Pak out of the series but was just a bit too full of himself thinking his average bowling attack could rip through Pakistan again.

Superbly played by Hafeez and Azhar but Taufeeq set the tone with his early onslaught.

Idealy batting another two sessions, getting around 550 and putting Lanka in for the final session. The pitch will see some deterioration as the game progresses, Pakistan is a totally different bowling unit with runs on the board. Pakistan will be confident of winning this test match from here on.

[khalil1986]

Originally Posted by KingKhanWC A disgrace of a decision by Jaya to bowl first. Being 1-0 up, he could have batted Pak out of the series but was just a bit too full of himself thinking his average bowling attack could rip through Pakistan again. Superbly played by Hafeez and Azhar but Taufeeq set the tone with his early onslaught. Idealy batting another two sessions, getting around 550 and putting Lanka in for the final session. The pitch will see some deterioration as the game progresses, Pakistan is a totally different bowling unit with runs on the board. Pakistan will be confident of winning this test match from here on.

I think we should aim for 600-650, give them an hour to bat at the end of day two as this pitch won't be deteriorating till day 4 at the earliest.

[KingKhanWC]

Originally Posted by khalil1986 I think we should aim for 600-650, give them an hour to bat at the end of day two as this pitch won't be deteriorating till day 4 at the earliest.

With an hour you get a couple of goes with the newish ball against batsmen who aren't set, another go in the morning. The concern is YK and Misbah allowing the rate to slow down when they come to bat. I don't think they will. With a full session , the spinners can also have a good go. It depends on the score and how Misbah feels.

[Square Drive]

Yes, Pakistan, this is what we're all about! Awesome from everyone, but Azhar was the best of all. Hafeez had a bit of luck, Taufeeq got out to a poor ball, but Azhar looked awesome. Great batting overall, now let's score 600 and bowl them out twice.

[Rana]

I hope they keep this aggressive way of playing from now on!

[AZulfi]

I know the pitch is benign and it is only day 1 yet but bad umpiring primarily cost us the first test (apart from poor application by the batsmen in the first innings ofcourse)

One of the two culprits in the first test, Englishman Ian Gould (other being Australian Steve Davis) is still officiating in this game but it shows what huge difference even one good (neutral in the real sense of the word) umpire (Simon Taufel) can make?

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Mark this day. We have one in a millennium where we score big and the majority of our runs come from the top order. Yousuf and Misbah will be tearing their hair out to cash in on the hard work by the early batters. Well done.

[Osama_B]

Originally Posted by Akmal Dynasty When hafeez looks comfortable at the crease and not poking at slips than it is the sign of a flat pitch.

this


sanga will plunder us. i wouldn't get too happy

draw is on the cards on this pitch

[Osama_B]

and correction it is not azhars 2nd hundred...will be his 3rd

he has 1 already vs SL and 1 vs england

[osee_bhai]

Can't really judge how well our batsmen played till we see SL's batsmen and how they fare on this SSC pitch. There have been matches in the past where 500 plays 600 = draw. With our fielding we're going to need 23-24 wickets on this surface, going to be difficult, but nevertheless you can't ask for much more on day 1. Well done to the top 3, I thought Taufeeq really stamped the batsmen's authority on this match early on, but only himself to blame that he missed out on a century.

[Square Drive]

We should now target 600, and Adnan should bat at 5 ahead of Misbah, to hit some quick 50-70 runs. Asad should bat at 6 as he too scores quicker than Misbah. Azhar and Hafeez should guide us to 420-430, followed by Younis and Adnan taking us to 500, then Asad and one of YK or Adnan (whichever one is not out) should take us to 600.

[farazaidi]

irrespective of the pitch, this is as good as Pakistan have batted in long long while, so its a job weldone. Need to build on it and score 550+

And a big lol @ Mahela "We wont play safe" Jayawerdene

[Amjid Javed]

Pakistan need to keep scoring at same rate which means that we could declare just after tea and have a good 20 over spell at SL and maybe knock over a few early wickets. If we do that then pressure of runs will tell on SL.

[zulfiqar]

Must be super flat for hafeez to get so close to a double hundred! wonder how many they can pile on

[James]

Mahela chose to bowl first? Didn't even know that.

[sada90]

SL vs Pakistan, 2nd Test, Day 1: Records Tumble as Pakistan take Control

which Records ??/

[Savak]

Flat pitch or not, 334/1 is a phenomenal achievement given our batting standards. Great to see Hafeez finally get some big runs.

[Random Aussie]

Well done Pakistan

[TaZ]

Be wary though. A collapse is always around the corner when we play. Just look at what happened the last time we were in SL..

[Buffet]

Good job by Pakistan. LOL for SL going for bowling first on this pitch.