Pakistan v South Africa, 2nd Test, Dubai, 2nd day
Tea South Africa 337 for 4 (Smith 165*, de Villiers 100*) lead Pakistan 99 (Babar 25*, Tahir 5-32, Steyn 3-38) by 238 runs If the first session of the day had been about Graeme Smith, the second one was mainly about AB de Villiers, who switched gears after lunch to bring up his 17th Test century. The two batsmen pummelled the Pakistan bowlers during an unbeaten stand worth 203 that stretched South Africa's lead in the second Test in Dubai to 238.
At lunch, de Villiers was on 26 off 59 deliveries, but he changed his approach completely in the second session. He unfurled a reverse-sweep in the 79th over against Saeed Ajmal, then slog-swept Zulfiqar Babar to the midwicket boundary in the next. Pakistan immediately called for the new ball, but that move just opened the floodgates as stroke-making became easier while the ball started travelling through the slow outfield quicker.
De Villiers punched and drove Mohammad Irfan for consecutive boundaries, then drilled Babar to the straight boundary to bring up his half-century and 1000 Test runs against Pakistan. He kept up the attack on Irfan, hitting two more boundaries in his next over to force Misbah-ul-Haq to take his best bowler out of the attack after three overs with the new ball.
Seventy-six runs came in the first hour after lunch, 42 of them from de Villiers as Pakistan bowlers failed to stem the flow of runs. The batsman slowed down a touch as he approached his century, but managed to get there with an exquisite inside-out cover drive in the last over of the session.
Pakistan, though, were left to rue a couple of chances that came their way. De Villiers, facing his first delivery against Irfan, was lured into a loose drive by a full delivery that went across the batsman. He was slow to move closer to the line of the delivery and a thick outside edge flew low to the right of the wicketkeeper, but Adnan Akmal failed to hold on.
The second chance came late in the session when Ajmal's appeal for lbw against de Villiers, who was on 25, was turned down by umpire Rod Tucker, who thought the ball had hit the bat before the pad. The replays showed the ball hit the pads first and would have gone on to strike the middle stump. However, Pakistan didn't have any reviews left after they had wasted them within five overs of the innings yesterday.
Smith, on the other hand, faced some problems against Irfan's steep bounce. He was smacked on the helmet of one such delivery that chased him as he was making room. But he opened up later in the session with three consecutive boundaries off Ajmal, the last one taking him past 150 for the ninth time in Test cricket.
It was Smith's first hundred - his fourth against Pakistan - on return from a five-month lay-off during which he underwent an ankle surgery. If there were any lingering doubts about his fitness or form, he dispelled them with nimble use of the feet against the spinners throughout the session and reached the landmark with a straight drive off Ajmal after he had stepped out of the crease.
At lunch, de Villiers was on 26 off 59 deliveries, but he changed his approach completely in the second session. He unfurled a reverse-sweep in the 79th over against Saeed Ajmal, then slog-swept Zulfiqar Babar to the midwicket boundary in the next. Pakistan immediately called for the new ball, but that move just opened the floodgates as stroke-making became easier while the ball started travelling through the slow outfield quicker.
De Villiers punched and drove Mohammad Irfan for consecutive boundaries, then drilled Babar to the straight boundary to bring up his half-century and 1000 Test runs against Pakistan. He kept up the attack on Irfan, hitting two more boundaries in his next over to force Misbah-ul-Haq to take his best bowler out of the attack after three overs with the new ball.
Seventy-six runs came in the first hour after lunch, 42 of them from de Villiers as Pakistan bowlers failed to stem the flow of runs. The batsman slowed down a touch as he approached his century, but managed to get there with an exquisite inside-out cover drive in the last over of the session.
Pakistan, though, were left to rue a couple of chances that came their way. De Villiers, facing his first delivery against Irfan, was lured into a loose drive by a full delivery that went across the batsman. He was slow to move closer to the line of the delivery and a thick outside edge flew low to the right of the wicketkeeper, but Adnan Akmal failed to hold on.
The second chance came late in the session when Ajmal's appeal for lbw against de Villiers, who was on 25, was turned down by umpire Rod Tucker, who thought the ball had hit the bat before the pad. The replays showed the ball hit the pads first and would have gone on to strike the middle stump. However, Pakistan didn't have any reviews left after they had wasted them within five overs of the innings yesterday.
Smith, on the other hand, faced some problems against Irfan's steep bounce. He was smacked on the helmet of one such delivery that chased him as he was making room. But he opened up later in the session with three consecutive boundaries off Ajmal, the last one taking him past 150 for the ninth time in Test cricket.
It was Smith's first hundred - his fourth against Pakistan - on return from a five-month lay-off during which he underwent an ankle surgery. If there were any lingering doubts about his fitness or form, he dispelled them with nimble use of the feet against the spinners throughout the session and reached the landmark with a straight drive off Ajmal after he had stepped out of the crease.
No comments:
Post a Comment