Cric13.com: Pak vs SA 2013

Friday, 25 October 2013

Pakistan falls early wickets in 2nd innings and SA a head to victory

Friday, 25 October 2013 - by Unknown · - 0 Comments

Pakistan v South Africa, 2nd Test, Dubai, 3rd day: Misery for Pakistan as openers fall

Pakistan 99 & 56/3 (28.0 overs) and South Africa 517, Pakistan trail by 362 runs with 7 wickets remaining

Pakistan had to endure 83 overs without a wicket during the triple-century stand between Graeme Smith and AB de Villiers. Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander, on the other hand, needed only 11 balls in ten minutes before lunch to get rid of Pakistan's openers, as the second Test moved towards an increasingly inevitable South African victory on the third day.

Graeme Smith hits 5th double century in his test career

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Smith (227*) and De Villiers (157*) gave South Africa a commanding 361-run lead over Pakistan on the second day.

Graeme Smith smashed a double century and AB de Villiers hit a robust hundred to guide South Africa to an imperious position in the must-win second Test against Pakistan in Dubai on Thursday. South African skipper made 227 not out for his fifth double ton while De Villiers -- dropped off the first delivery by wicket-keeper Adnan Akmal off paceman Mohammad Irfan -- was unbeaten on 157 for his 17th Test century.

The duo plundered a hapless Pakistan attack to take South Africa to 460-4 at close on the second day, giving them a big 361-run lead with three full days to play to force a series-levelling win. Pakistan won the first Test by seven wickets in Abu Dhabi last week.

Smith and De Villiers have set an all time South African record for the fifth wicket in Tests with 326, beating the previous best of 267 set by Jacques Kallis and Ashwell Prince against the West Indies at Antigua in 2005.

Thursday, 24 October 2013

South Africa lead by 238 runs at Tea Time in 1st innings

Thursday, 24 October 2013 - by Unknown · - 0 Comments

Graeme Smith strolled to his 27th century and AB de Villiers his 17th century

Pakistan 99 and South Africa 337/4 (101.0 overs)

South Africa lead by 238 runs with 6 wickets remaining in the 1st innings

Graeme Smith strolled to his 27th century and AB de Villiers his 17th century in the second session of the second morning against Pakistan, helping South Africa to a healthy 238 runs lead in Dubai.

Pakistan bowlers managed just the one wicket, that of nightwatchman Dale Steyn, and were thwarted for around 90 minutes by an unbeaten 203-runs stand between Smith and AB de Villiers.

Wednesday, 23 October 2013

Pakistan bowled out for 99 runs third-lowest score against South Africa

Wednesday, 23 October 2013 - by Unknown · - 0 Comments

Pakistan v South Africa, 2nd Test, Dubai, 1st day: Tahir's maiden five-for makes it SA's day

Pakistan 99 and South Africa 128/3 (49.0 ov)

South Africa lead by 29 runs with 7 wickets remaining in the 1st innings

South Africa have had a superb day after losing the toss. Their bowlers dismissed Pakistan for 99, giving themselves such a good chance of leveling the series, and then their batsmen have ensured that they will have a decent first-innings lead.

While Pakistan's spinners did get assistance from the pitch, the lack of movement for their seamers was in sharp contrast to how Dale Steyn had got the ball to swing and seam earlier in the day. Devashish Fuloria's report of the day's play will be updated soon, so make sure you read that and all the other stories that Firdose Moonda will send in from Dubai over the next couple of hours.

Monday, 21 October 2013

Younis Khan surprised for not in the ODI team vs South Africa

Monday, 21 October 2013 - by Unknown · - 0 Comments

Younis Khan was baffled by his continued omission from Pakistan's limited-overs teams. Though a regular in the Test side, he could not find a place in the 16-man squad announced for the five-match ODI series against South Africa, and has been out of the running in limited-overs cricket since the Champions Trophy, when a run of seven innings without crossing fifty forced him out of the squad.

"I'm surprised I am not in the one-day team. It's quite shocking for me," Younis said ahead of Pakistan's second Test against South Africa. "I am available for all formats of the game."

Pakistan have moved towards younger players in the shorter forms with the likes of batsman Umar Amin and recently, Sohaib Maqsood, preferred over older hands such as Younis. Pakistan's batting struggled in the Champions Trophy but they recovered well in series against West Indies and Zimbabwe, both of which they won.

Via - Cricinfo

Saturday, 19 October 2013

Umar Akmal chance to play ODI series against South Africa in UAE

Saturday, 19 October 2013 - by Unknown · - 0 Comments

Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal and seamer Wahab Riaz have been recalled to the ODI squad for the five-match series against South Africa in the UAE. Sohaib Maqsood, the right-handed batsman who played two T20s in Zimbabwe recently, was also named in the 16-member squad.

The selectors left out three players who featured in the Zimbabwe ODIs, including seamers Anwar Ali and Asad Ali and batsman Haris Sohail.

Squad: Misbah-ul-Haq (capt) Ahmed Shehzad, Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Hafeez, Umar Amin, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Mohammad Irfan, Junaid Khan, Sohail Tanvir, Wahab Riaz, Sohaib Maqsood, Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed

Friday, 18 October 2013

Pakistan beat South Africa in 1st Test by seven wickets

Friday, 18 October 2013 - by Unknown · - 0 Comments

Pakistan v SA, 1st Test, Abu Dhabi, 4th day: Pakistan wrap up huge upset

Pakistan 442 (Manzoor 146, Misbah 100) and 45 for 3 beat South Africa 249 (Amla 118, Irfan 3-44) and 232 (de Villiers 90, Ajmal 4-74) by seven wickets

The seven-wicket victory was Pakistan's fourth win in 22 Tests against South Africa. South Africa won 11, and seven ended in a draw.
Pakistan have now won four consecutive Tests in the UAE and have not been beaten in the country in nine consecutive Tests. The last time they lost was to Australia in Sharjah in 2002.
The defeat was South Africa's first in 16 Tests. The last time they lost a Test was to Sri Lanka in Durban in 2011. The 15-Test sequence was South Africa's longest undefeated run in Tests.
Before this Test, South Africa had won six consecutive matches, beginning with their win against Australia in Perth in November 2012.
Misbah-ul-Haq is now the third-highest run scorer in 2013, first-class, list-A and Twenty20 matches included. He overtook James Taylor during his century in the first innings of this Test.
Shan Masood became only the third Pakistan batsman and 28th overall to score a half-century and a duck on Test debut. Masood is also the 13th Test debutant from Pakistan to make a fifty-plus score in a winning cause on debut.

Graeme Smith: "Extremely disappointed, we have set really high standards for ourselves, but credit goes to Misbah and his boys, right from session 1, they have been ahead in the game and played better cricket. Even though we showed good character in parts, our skills were not upto the mark. First morning was a tough time to bat, but we still got into ourselves into good position in the first innings, but then we fell apart a bit. Only posting 250 puts you under pressure. Our bowlers weren't that bad, but we were certainly not up to the standards we set for ourselves. We have to look at our ability to bounce back and have to improve on a few things and see how we can be more effective, and hopefully make the right decisions. Hashim is the best batsman in the world at the moment, the birth of his child is a big moment for him, and I wish him and his wife best of luck."

Misbah-ul-Haq: "It's really unbelievable and a much-needed win for us, it was a team effort and everyone contributed, especially the youngsters. Both openers and Zulfiqar Babar, they really did a tremendous job for us. I think everyone chipped in, especially with the bowling. We go the advantage from the first innings. In these conditions, it's difficult to score runs, that's why I was disappointed when i lost the toss. But when we got them under 250, we thought, if we batted well, we could get ourselves into a good position. That was a much-needed 100 for me, the last one came in 2011, and I was looking forward to it. It came at a time when the team needed it. Conditions will remain the same in Dubai, maybe more bounce and spin. So they are likely to suit us. But SA have played there before too, so we need to repeat the performance."

Khurram Manzoor is the Man of the Match for his century in the first innings. He says, "I was a bit tense till the match finished, but i am happy that we won it in the end. I have worked hard with the coach, focused on domestic cricket, and I have been working on my fitness as well. The hard work is now paying off. I and Shan Masood play quite a lot together, so we have good communication. In fact, I was getting more confidence from watching Shan play."

Tuesday, 15 October 2013

Pakistan lead South Africa by 14 runs in 1st innings on 2nd day

Tuesday, 15 October 2013 - by Unknown · - 0 Comments

Pakistan v South Africa, 1st Test, Abu Dhabi, 2nd day: Manzoor ton breaks top-order drought

Pakistan 263 for 3 (Manzoor 131*, Masood 75) lead South Africa 249 (Amla 118, Duminy 57, Irfan 3-44, Babar 3-89) by 14 runs

Misbah and Manzoor punch gloves as they make their way back. This has been Pakistan's day from the beginning. Their openers ended a drought by posting 135 and the solid base has helped players like Misbah play with ease and less pressure.

Shan Masood showed good temperament and importantly the batsmen rotated the strike well and didn't just look for boundaries. Manzoor showed he has the hunger and patience to occupy the crease.

South Africa would have learnt a lot about the right lengths to bowl and that the lack of a specialist spinner is a handicap. They need to make the new ball count tomorrow.

Monday, 14 October 2013

Pakistan v South Africa at Abu Dhabi on 1st day at stumps

Monday, 14 October 2013 - by Unknown · - 0 Comments

Pakistan v South Africa, 1st Test, Abu Dhabi, 1st day: Amla makes century, Pakistan make inroads

South Africa 245 for 8 (Amla 118*, Duminy 57, Babar 3-89) v Pakistan

The ebbs and flows of Test cricket were in full evidence on the first day in Abu Dhabi, ending with Pakistan the slightly happier side despite Hashim Amla adding to his rapidly increasing century count. Pakistan's new-ball bowlers produced the breakthroughs in the morning session, then Amla and the middle order made the pitch seem utterly docile in the second session, before the spinners sparked a collapse in the final session.

Few sights are as reassuring for South Africa fans as seeing Amla in the middle. He produced a typically graceful innings, full of whiplash drives through the off and was comfortable camping on the backfoot and playing late against the spinners. As usual, he walked across the stumps to flick balls well outside off to the leg side and serenely progressed to his 20th Test century.

Saturday, 12 October 2013

Pak vs SA 2013: Ajmal have good Record in United Arab Emirates

Saturday, 12 October 2013 - by Unknown · - 0 Comments

Ajmal took 24 wickets when Pakistan humbled then world number one England 3-0 in the United Arab Emirates last year

Rival captains Misbah-ul Haq and Graeme Smith both agreed Pakistani off-spinner Saeed Ajmal will be the key in the two-Test series starting here on Monday.

Ajmal, who turns 36 on the first day of the match, took 24 wickets when Pakistan humbled then world number one England 3-0 in the United Arab Emirates last year. But Misbah urged his wily spinner to lift his game.

"I think it (bowling to South Africans) will be a big challenge for Ajmal," said Misbah at the unveiling of the trophy for the series. Misbah conceded South Africans play Ajmal better than English batsmen.

"He (Ajmal) was new to England and that's why they struggled against him. South Africans have played him more, so it's a big challenge for Ajmal and he will have to lift his bowling because he is up against a team who plays him well," said Misbah.

Excluding his ten wickets on a spin-friendly Cape Town pitch earlier this year, Ajmal has only four wickets in four Tests against South Africa.

Smith agreed his batsmen play Ajmal well, but the off-spinner can still pose a challenge.
"I think last time we were on this tour, we played Ajmal really well and I think he ended up missing a few games on the tour," said Smith of South Africa's last series here in 2010 when Ajmal was dropped after taking only three wickets in the first Test.

"He still is a key performer for Pakistan and he's a world class performer... it's real respect factor for what he can do... he's a world class bowler, I think we've had a good success against him and that's nice to know," said Smith, who returns to international cricket after a 21-week break following an ankle operation.

Via - MSN.com