Day 2 Report by m_sohail

[Daoud]

Things got underway with the weather being clearer than the day before. Edwards and Collymore were the two bowlers called upon by Lara, and both bowlers were able to get the ball to seam and there was hint of swing at the start.

Hafeez and Younis came in looking to defend the ball while rotating strike when the chance was offered. Hafeez was picking up the line and length of the ball early, and displaying much more improved foot movement while defending the ball as compared to yesterday. Younis looked to be concentrating after a bad run with the bat in the ICC champions trophy. Unfortunately, he attempted to pull a short ball bowled by Edwards - never really being able to get on top of the ball - and hit it to Sarwan who was waiting at short mid-wicket.

In came Yousef, getting off the mark with a beautiful square drive only 4 balls into his innings by opening the face of the bat to a full delivery. Yousef had a watchful eye, leaving the ball when it was pitched wide or showing a hint of late away movement.

An indication of how much work Hafeez has put in as well as how much patience he has displayed: his first boundary came 77 balls into his innings – spotting the ball early, coming onto the front foot and following through on a lovely cover drive that found a gap between 2 defenders. He quickly hit two more boundaries, one on a pull shot and the other on an edge that went between 2 slips.

Hafeez and Yousef got a 50 partnership off 84 balls, and looked relatively at ease for the most part. Both batsmen showed patience and a willingness to leave balls outside the off stump. Every so often the ball would do something unexpected like seam in or show a hint of late swing, and there were brief periods of sunshine creeping through the clouds.

Yousef continued to display the fine form he has been in of late; having an innings of sweetly timed shots and finding the gaps in the field and taking calculated risks.

Taylor removed Hafeez for LBW on 57. It was a good delivery, full on the middle stump and struck the lower part of the pad; the umpire took an unusually long time before raising the finger, but it was the right decision. A brilliant effort by Hafeez – displaying patience, a keen eye, and some good shots. Hafeez looks to have proven he should be persisted with. With that, the “gentle giant” himself strode out to the pitch.

Yousef was dropped on 43; he edged a good length ball to Ganga, who couldn’t come up with the catch. Soon after, Yousef went on to get his half century, his innings containing almost precisely timed shots.

Just before lunch Inzi misjudged a full length delivery from Dave Mohammad, playing inside the flighted delivery and showed a lack of recent match practise. Malik and Yousef negotiated the remaining couple of overs before lunch without much difficulty.
Post lunch session saw Yousef and Malik playing cautiously. A couple of overs into the session saw Malik come down the track and slog a Mohammad delivery over long-on for a big six. Typical Malik aggression there; good foot movement, spotting the ball early and hitting it with power. Malik was picking up Mohammad’s deliveries very early and seeing them off without too much difficulty.

Malik and Yousef defend and took the 1s and 2s when the opportunity arose. Every so often both batsmen would look to get a boundary: Yousef pulling the short deliveries by Mohammad, and Malik straight driving and late cutting deliveries by Gayle and Bravo. Pakistan went into tea with a 19 run lead, and West Indies having the option to get the new ball.

The final session of the day saw Edwards and Taylor sharing the new ball. In the first over after tea, Edwards bowled 2 consecutive no balls, both dispatched for 4 by Malik. First no ball was straighter and on the pads being flicked away, while the second no ball was driven through cover. This set more of an up-tempo run scoring pace in the final session.

Mohammad Yousef got another test century in style with a shot for 4 to fine leg. Very next delivery saw Yousef attempt a pull shot off a Taylor short ball, only to sky the ball in the air at point which Jerome Taylor called for and graced with his outstretched fingertips. Yousef dropped yet again. Both new ball bowlers bowled the wrong line, never really troubling the batsmen. Malik and Yousef went after bad balls, piling on the runs in the final few overs of the session without loosing any wickets.

After day 2 of the test, it is safe to say Pakistan are in the drivers seat. They will seek to continue to score the runs and build a huge lead, while putting the pressure on West Indies to save the match on a pitch that should heavily support Kaneria in the final days.

Credit to m_sohail

[Oxy]

Thanks for that - helps us non watching fans

[UJ]

Good report.

[immubhai]

thanks for the report though I would rather have appreciated any highlights (-:

[Oxy]

Originally Posted by immubhai thanks for the report though I would rather have appreciated any highlights (-:

Its a WRITTEN report....

[immubhai]

Got your point, better than reading on
rediff

[Geordie Ahmed]

good report

[Amjid Javed]

excellent report.

[HAFRIDI]

nice one, i missed it today's play.

[PlanetPakistan]

Well done Sohail bhai......

[Saj]

thanks m-sohail.

If anyone is interested in writing the report for day 3, do let us know.

[Easa]

Nice report, enjoyed reading that one.

[Imran_The Man!]

Many thanks , M-Sohail, excellent report.

Didn't bother with Ary's coverage this year ,and busy most of day, so unfortunately couldn't follow any play on PP either.This was just the ticket!

[infamous9383]

good report sohail.

[Muyazzim Khan]

Sohail excellent. What else can it be from a from a fellow Packers fan ?

[darkmoon459]

Mr Sohail, nice summerization of th events , thank you for your time and effort.

[m_sohail]

Thanks for taking the time to read it and replying guys.