****Official****Pakistan in South Africa

[WindieWeathers]

You can tell this is gonna be a great series, Pakistan have done very well to get them out in a day, but we all know they are an up and down team, tomorrow will tell us if they have it in them to really push SA in this series, get a lead of anything over 80 then i think they'll be in with a great chance here.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Alarming to agree with every word Windie Weathers says but he is bang on. Pakistan have done well today but the key is tomorrow and how they bat against Steyn and co. We all know they have a batting line up that can be dodgy but a good performance tomorrow could set them up for a win here.

 

[Black_Warrior]

Not surprised at all..As I had said before, South Africa's batting is not all that..people (including commentators) keep saying oh their batting is so strong, they bat deep...just because England failed to exploit it does not mean their batting is great
Peterson is average/below average
Smith is a hit and miss test batsman
De Viliers is inconsistent.
Du Plessis is still new
Elgar is crap

So basically you have only Amla and Kallis who are the main threats..the day they don't make it big..you have a real chance..

Having said that..253 is still more than enough for Pakistan...its just a score that will give the Pakistan fans some hope (that will last a day before Steyn destroys the batting) and the non Pakistan fans the illusion that there might be an upset this time.

 

[morgieb]

You never cease to amaze me, Pakistan.

 

[uvelocity]

god some of the posting is getting grating, pews wag

fantastic start to the series for porkistorn, they would have gone to bed very happy

 

[Agent Nationaux]

Hopefully Hafeez capitalises on his success by scoring a double. I can only wish.

 

[Briony]

Terrible performance with the bat from SA. Basically all the top seven got a start but nobody went on. Too much sideshow with Smith. These sort of celebrations could be kept more private. Pakistan didn't really have to bowl super well to shoot them out for a poor score on this small ground. Pakistan should aim for 100+ lead and then Ajmal should come into play.

SA's tail is terrible. Peterson keeps making low scores and their team has been prone to runt outs for a while now.

Will be interesting to see if Steyn and co. turn up to rescue them.

 

[r3alist]

Not surprised at all..As I had said before, South Africa's batting is not all that..people (including commentators) keep saying oh their batting is so strong, they bat deep...just because England failed to exploit it does not mean their batting is great
Peterson is average/below average
Smith is a hit and miss test batsman
De Viliers is inconsistent.
Du Plessis is still new
Elgar is crap

So basically you have only Amla and Kallis who are the main threats..the day they don't make it big..you have a real chance..

Having said that..253 is still more than enough for Pakistan...its just a score that will give the Pakistan fans some hope (that will last a day before Steyn destroys the batting) and the non Pakistan fans the illusion that there might be an upset this time.

Not all that? Come on, kallis is an atg, smith and amla 2 of the best of their generation, amla perhaps the best in the world right now, ab is hardly shabby too, and faf is very promising.....thats a very good lineup.

Pakistan bowled well, bowlers deserve a lot of credit.

 

[r3alist]

Terrible performance with the bat from SA. Basically all the top seven got a start but nobody went on. Too much sideshow with Smith. These sort of celebrations could be kept more private. Pakistan didn't really have to bowl super well to shoot them out for a poor score on this small ground. Pakistan should aim for 100+ lead and then Ajmal should come into play.

SA's tail is terrible. Peterson keeps making low scores and their team has been prone to runt outs for a while now.

Will be interesting to see if Steyn and co. turn up to rescue them.

A 50 run lead would be an achievement, outside of the openers i cant see anyone scoring at more than a s/r of 50, that alone should already give a lot of encouragement to the south African's.

The middle order are unlikely to stay in long enough (atleast 150 deliveries to get 50 plus) to amass any sort of decent score, not against probing bowlers like steyn and philander who will eventually find a way through.

 

[Agent Nationaux]

Looks like fans from both teams (including me) are playing down their own side. Maybe we should all just support each others team.

 

[smash84]

Not surprised at all..As I had said before, South Africa's batting is not all that..people (including commentators) keep saying oh their batting is so strong, they bat deep...just because England failed to exploit it does not mean their batting is great
Peterson is average/below average
Smith is a hit and miss test batsman
De Viliers is inconsistent.
Du Plessis is still new
Elgar is crap

So basically you have only Amla and Kallis who are the main threats..the day they don't make it big..you have a real chance..

Having said that..253 is still more than enough for Pakistan...its just a score that will give the Pakistan fans some hope (that will last a day before Steyn destroys the batting) and the non Pakistan fans the illusion that there might be an upset this time.

This is a little much.

Amla and Kallis I agree but Smith is the best opener in the world for the last few years (along with Cook). AB without gloves is also VERY good. Faf is new but 4 really top class batsmen in the top 6.

 

[Black_Warrior]

This is a little much.

Amla and Kallis I agree but Smith is the best opener in the world for the last few years (along with Cook). AB without gloves is also VERY good. Faf is new but 4 really top class batsmen in the top 6.

AB has been inconsistent in Test cricket since he took up the gloves..everyone knows that..its just that people still remember the 169 recently..but forget the inconsistency behind it.

Smith once again..a very hit and miss batsman..he might be one of the best openers in a world where there are ordinary openers all around.

They might be top class but their lack of consistency is what makes the South African batting more susceptible to collapses and disappointing scores for a number 1 team.

Its still a few country miles ahead of most teams today..especially Pakistan in this context so in the end it might not even matter.

 

[NUFAN]

SA rarely fail in both innings in a match so it will be interesting to see how the rest of the Test pans out. The thing I like about the Pakistan batting lineup is that they have bats at 3 to 5 who wont give their wicket away so I would actually be very surprised if Pakistan aren't leading at the end of the second innings of the match.

 

[kykweer.proteas]

AB has been inconsistent in Test cricket since he took up the gloves..everyone knows that..its just that people still remember the 169 recently..but forget the inconsistency behind it.

Smith once again..a very hit and miss batsman..he might be one of the best openers in a world where there are ordinary openers all around.

They might be top class but their lack of consistency is what makes the South African batting more susceptible to collapses and disappointing scores for a number 1 team.

Its still a few country miles ahead of most teams today..especially Pakistan in this context so in the end it might not even matter.

Do you expect South Africa to win every game by an innings?

Give Pakistan at least some credit for building a little pressure with their bowling and I doubt south africa would do this bad second time around, but we'll have to see, this is probably the test Pakistan would challenge the most and could win, but South Africa won't lose in Cape Town and Centurion.

 

[Black_Warrior]

I do not expect SA to win every game by an innings and I have absolutely no doubt that they have the ability to bounce back just like they did in the 3rd test in Australia.. but my original point still stands..all this talk about SA batting being so strong and deep is a tad overrated.

 

[hendrix]

Too much sideshow with Smith. These sort of celebrations could be kept more private.

completely agree.

I think Smith is a great cricketer and a top bloke, but he must be finding all this stuff a little embarrassing.

I also wonder whether there would have been so much celebration were SA not the top side at the moment.

 

[hendrix]

anyone got a link to where I can watch the highlights? The cricinfo video content is disabled in NZ

 

[Black_Warrior]

Just watching the highlights now..the two catches taken by Azhar Ali and Shafiq to remove Amla and Kallis..just wow!! never thought I'd see Pakistani fielders take catches like that.

 

[smash84]

anyone got a link to where I can watch the highlights? The cricinfo video content is disabled in NZ

just google Pakistan vs South Africa 2013 day 1 highlights and you will get plenty of links. I am not sure if we are allowed to post links here.

 

[Faisal1985]

god some of the posting is getting grating, pews wag

fantastic start to the series for porkistorn, they would have gone to bed very happy

Dude whats up with the insults...