MONDAY, 6.30PM:
PAKISTAN, who were floundering with their score on 264/8 at the tea break in the first Test at the Wanderers in Johannesburg, are battling grimly on. The Pakistanis are hanging in there at 311/9.
MONDAY, 11.00AM:
PAKISTAN will resume their innings on Monday at the Wanderers in Johannesburg with their score on 106/4, still needing 59 runs to avoid the follow-on.
At stumps on Sunday evening, the tourists were decidedly shell-shocked, partly due to the effects of the rain and lightning on the flow of their innings, and positively more so due to Pat Symcox’s record 10th-wicket innings of 108.
After being sent in to bat on Saturday, the South Africans were immediately on the ropes due to excellent bowling from the Pakistani seamers, Waqar Younis and young speedster Shaoib Akhtar.
Both bowlers built up a good head of steam and Gary Kirsten was first to fall victim to Younis when he tried to fend off a nasty bouncer and top-edged to Azhar Mahmood in the gully.
Jacques Kallis was the next man in for South Africa, and was immediately set upon by Younis, who sent a short one crashing into the side of his helmet. Two overs later Younis tried the same tactic, but Kallis stood his ground and literally pulled the ball off his eyebrows to send it whizzing to the square-leg boundary.
Kallis however mistimed a similar shot off Akhtar, and fell prey to Mohammed Wasim at short-leg.
In trouble at 56/2, the South Africans were heavily dependent on Adam Bacher to play an innings of substance, and the youngster from Gauteng obliged. Relishing playing on his home turf, Bacher stuck it out until just after lunch before being trapped leg before by Younis for a well-played 46, including nine fours.
Getting one to cut back sharply, Younis shattered Daryll Cullinan’s stumps just seven balls later and when Gibbs was out leg before to Mushtaq Ahmed, the top half of South Africa’s batting line-up had been destroyed for a meagre 96 runs.
Cullinan hit three fours in his 16, while Gibbs played just one scoring shot — a classic cover drive off Younis for four — before being done by Mushtaq.
Former opening bat Andrew Hudson and allrounder Shaun Pollock somewhat steadied the innings with a partnership of 53 runs, but both fell soon after each other, with Hudson bowled for 33 by Mushtaq and Pollock being caught, also by Mushtaq, after mistiming a short ball from Azhar Mahmood. By now the South Africans were desperately in trouble at 157/7.
Lance Klusener was next to go back to the hut, playing across the line of a straightforward leg-break, he was clean bowled by Mushtaq for 6 — with the board on 166/8.
Then Symcox entered the fray and laid about the bowling with gusto — even having time to indulge in some verbal brawling with speedster Akhtar after clouting him for four straight over his head.
Rookie Mark Boucher also started opening the floodgates, and was lucky not to go out on a number of occasions.
Symcox and Boucher frustrated the Pakistani bowlers no end on Sunday, with the day belonging to the South African tailenders. Symcox batted magnificently, setting a new world record partnership of 195 runs for the 10th wicket, and achieving his first Test ton at age 37.
Symmo, who eventually took to the showers after being caught by Akhtar off Mushtaq’s bowling, batted for 226 minutes, faced 157 balls and struck 17 boundaries in his 108.
Playing in only his second Test, Boucher faced 161 deliveries and hit nine fours and a six in his 265 minutes at the wicket for 78 runs.
With the fall of Boucher’s wicket the South African innings ended on 364.
The Pakistani batsmen were aware that the wicket at the Wanderers would hold something for the batsmen as well as the bowlers, and when a lightning-fast Donald streaked a few past the batsmen were always going to play on the back foot.
Indeed the bowlers drew first blood with both Pakistani openers dismissed for 15 runs off successive balls. Aamir Sohail was first to go, adjudged caught behind by Boucher off Pollock in what can only be described as a dubious decision. The ball clearly missed the bat, and nicked only Sohail’s shirt on its way to the ‘keeper.
Allan Donald struck next. After baiting Saeed Anwar for a while with tempting deliveries on the off-side, the Pakistani opener fell to the ruse and was caught at slip by Cullinan.
Lance Klusener and Jacques Kallis were sent in with the leather after Donald and Pollock took a break, and were promptly bludgeoned all around the park in a most entertaining way by Mohammad Wasim.
When finally caught behind on the defensive hop off a Klusener bouncer, Wasim had cracked eight fours in his 44, scored off 44 deliveries. The South Africans were delighted to send him packing.
Ijaz Ahmed stuck around after the dismissal of Wasim with new bat Inzamam Ul Haq, who was just the player to set up a big knock. This, however, never materialised as Inzamam had his offstump ripped out by a snorter from Klusener for a duck. Wicketkeeper Moin Khan was next to take the field with Ijaz, and was still there with the score on 106/4 at stumps.
Scoreboard on the second day of the first cricket Test between South Africa and Pakistan at the Wanderers stadium on Sunday:
South Africa first innings (296/8 wkts overnight):
A Bacher lbw Younis 46 (133m 94b 9×4)
G Kirsten c Mahmood b Younis 3 (32m 13b)
J Kallis c Wasim b Akhtar 15 (55m 27 3×4)
D Cullinan b Younis 16 (54m 42b 3×4)
A Hudson b M Ahmed 33 (105m 64b 5×4)
H Gibbs lbw M Ahmed 4 (12m 9b 1×4)
S Pollock c M Ahmed b Mahmood 21 (70m 43b 1×4)
M Boucher c Wasim b S Mushtaq 78 (265m 161b 9×4 1×6)
L Klusener b M Ahmed 6 (17m 22b)
P Symcox c Akhtar b S Mushtaq 108 (226m 157b 17×4)
A Donald not out 0 (6m 3b)
Extras (2b 21lb 4w 7nb) 34
Total (all out) 364 — 104,2 overs (494 mins)
Fall of wickets: 1/14 2/56 3/86 4/91 5/96 6/149 7/157 8/166 9/361
Bowling: Younis 23-4-80-3 (2nb), Akhtar 21-1-84-1 (5nb), Mahmood 20-1-52-1 (3w), M Ahmed 27-6-66-3, S Mushtaq 12,2-0-47-2, Sohail 1-0-12-0 (1w).
South Africa first innings — 364
Pakistan first innings:
S Anwar c Cullinan b Donald 2 (33m 25b)
A Sohail c Boucher b Pollock 12 (31m 25b 2×4)
I Ahmed not out 33 (97m 62b 7×4)
M Wasim c Boucher b Klusener 44 (65m 44b 8×4)
I Ul-Haq b Klusener 0 (8m 6b)
M Khan c Gibbs b Klusener 46 (149m 93b 9×4)
A Mahmood not out 87 (191m 158b 14×4)
S Mushtaq c Boucher b Kallis 2 (62m 39b)
M Ahmed c Kirsten b Kallis 10 (35m 34b 2×4)
W Younis not out 1 (9m 4b)
Extras (11b 5lb 3w 8nb) 27
Total (for 8 wkts) 265 — 81 overs (tea)
Fall of wickets: 1/15 2/15 3/87 4/91 5/112 6/219 7/230 8/255
Bowling (at tea): Donald 20-4-72-2 (2nb), Pollock 21-9-43-1 (3nb), Klusener 17-6-58-3 (3nb), Kallis 18-7-58-2 (3w), Symcox 5-0-16-0
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