Pakistan 113 for 1 in 25 overs
Saturday, 30 October 2010
Perhaps it was the Friday afternoon start, or more likely the intense heat, but Pakistan and South Africa got an important ODI series off to a sedate start at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, according to website cricinfo.
Once Shahid Afridi had chosen to bat, the sides went at each other with all the intent found in a jar of valium, Mohammad Hafeez and the returning Younis Khan leading Pakistan to 113 for 1 at the halfway mark.
More likely it was Pakistan's two top-order burn-outs in the Twenty20 internationals that prompted their introspection but they returned to the ODI policy that has served them well since the Miandad six of 1986: keep wickets in hand upfront, explode later. Asad Shafiq, promoted to open after both the regular openers in the squad were dropped, was bright enough to begin but once he was late on a short ball from the impressive Lonwabo Tsotsobe, proceedings always threatened to quiet down.
That early wicket at least allowed Younis and Hafeez to put together a substantial but mostly unremarkable 87-run stand. There were some nice strokes, a punch through covers that got Younis off the mark, a whippy cut from Hafeez, and enough single-pinching to keep the threat alive of a late-overs burst.
Neither pace nor spin really tested the Pakistan batsmen on a slow surface and they were polite enough not to really test South Africa back. Likely that the greater battles both fought were with themselves; Younis after a forgotten nine months and Hafeez to dispel the impression that he isn't just, like an ice sculpture in the desert, good to look at but not very long-lasting.
South Africa were, well, South African. There was a well-oiled and disciplined monotony to the bowling, interrupted by occasional experimentation and of course they were miserly in the field. Tsotsobe was the stand-out, a fine opening spell in which his greatest triumph was to not flag in the heat. He was unlucky not to pick up Hafeez as well, Jacques Kallis dropping a sharp chance at short cover when the opener was on 5.
Fifteen overs and one strong but rejected leg-before appeal against Younis later, Hafeez reached 50. Off 63 balls, it was a surprisingly swift one, given he had got off the mark off the last ball of the seventh over.
25 overs Pakistan 113 for 1 (Younis 37*, Hafeez 51*) v South Africa
Once Shahid Afridi had chosen to bat, the sides went at each other with all the intent found in a jar of valium, Mohammad Hafeez and the returning Younis Khan leading Pakistan to 113 for 1 at the halfway mark.
More likely it was Pakistan's two top-order burn-outs in the Twenty20 internationals that prompted their introspection but they returned to the ODI policy that has served them well since the Miandad six of 1986: keep wickets in hand upfront, explode later. Asad Shafiq, promoted to open after both the regular openers in the squad were dropped, was bright enough to begin but once he was late on a short ball from the impressive Lonwabo Tsotsobe, proceedings always threatened to quiet down.
That early wicket at least allowed Younis and Hafeez to put together a substantial but mostly unremarkable 87-run stand. There were some nice strokes, a punch through covers that got Younis off the mark, a whippy cut from Hafeez, and enough single-pinching to keep the threat alive of a late-overs burst.
Neither pace nor spin really tested the Pakistan batsmen on a slow surface and they were polite enough not to really test South Africa back. Likely that the greater battles both fought were with themselves; Younis after a forgotten nine months and Hafeez to dispel the impression that he isn't just, like an ice sculpture in the desert, good to look at but not very long-lasting.
South Africa were, well, South African. There was a well-oiled and disciplined monotony to the bowling, interrupted by occasional experimentation and of course they were miserly in the field. Tsotsobe was the stand-out, a fine opening spell in which his greatest triumph was to not flag in the heat. He was unlucky not to pick up Hafeez as well, Jacques Kallis dropping a sharp chance at short cover when the opener was on 5.
Fifteen overs and one strong but rejected leg-before appeal against Younis later, Hafeez reached 50. Off 63 balls, it was a surprisingly swift one, given he had got off the mark off the last ball of the seventh over.
25 overs Pakistan 113 for 1 (Younis 37*, Hafeez 51*) v South Africa