Herschelle Gibbs got the ball rolling in South Africa's court and Graeme Smith and Shaun Pollock didn't let the momentum drop much as the visitors made hasty progress pursuing 231 in Multan. Gibbs' brisk 39 off 35 balls put the pace bowlers off their mark and Pollock, promoted to No. 3, ticked along nicely with his captain to leave South Africa 89 runs away from squaring the series, reports Cricinfo.
Gibbs exploited the Powerplays, using his feet to the pace bowlers to get width and elevation. In fact, he used this ploy to make the bowlers bowl where he wanted them to. After bowling full and being creamed over extra cover, Umar Gul pitched on a length and Gibbs twirled him over square leg for four. He then overpitched on leg stump, and was flicked through mid-on.
Inside six overs the field was scattered - fine leg in, mid-on up, a man square out on the off-side boundary - but Gibbs continued to make it look easy in the middle. Mohammad Asif, in his first game of the series, didn't bowl in a good channel always and was guilty of overpitching.
A flustered Shoaib Malik called Shahid Afridi in the second Powerplay and the in-form man, enjoying an exceptional 2007 with bat and ball - got Gibbs first ball courtesy Billy Bowden's error in judgment.
Pollock, Smith put South Africa on course
FE Team | Published: October 27, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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