Brilliant fifties by Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Ali Agha take Pakistan to 313/5 on Day 1 of the 1st Test against South Africa

[Usman Chadda]

That ball spun too much for a mediocre bat like Babar to get an edge on

 

[cricfan432]

When will we end this king culture

 

[m.shah]

Pitch is turning. This is already a good score for Pakistan

 

[cricfan432]

Pitch is turning. This is already a good score for Pakistan

Odd balls turning i guess

 

[m.shah]

Babar playing like proper tailender

 

[Usman Chadda]

King not been able to get the ball off the square so far.

 

[Omer2002]

After winning a good toss all harf work gone down the drain...ball started to spin and these clowns dnt know what to do

 

[Rana]

Babar is so convincing against spin

He is what Pakistan need for the T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka

 

[Wasim Ghulam]

County Stint has helped Imam. He looks assured at crease with his feet movement

 

[Wasim Ghulam]

King not been able to get the ball off the square so far.

lack of feet movement. you need to meet the ball at pitch playing against turn

 

[Kianig89]

Just bat bat and bat , this is Test cricket

 

[G0rmintAunty]

Could've been a run there but Imam bhai modelling mai lage hue hai.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Babar got 2 4s now... Releasing pressure off him... Come on

 

[mominsaigol]

Babar got 2 4s now... Releasing pressure off him... Come on

Century dry streak breaking today?

 

[pratiktc]

Big hundred loading for Babar

 

[BouncerGuy]

Century dry streak breaking today?

He really needs to... Good for his own confidence... He started nervous.. But this is not an easy pitch where you start fluently... He is not that good against spin so that is another issue.

 

[Muhammad Saad]

100 more runs and it’s a match winning total.

 

[Kianig89]

Good that Pakistan are not overloaded with spinners, got to back the basics

 

[Kianig89]

Shan Masood should have made it count #100

 

[mominsaigol]

He really needs to... Good for his own confidence... He started nervous.. But this is not an easy pitch where you start fluently... He is not that good against spin so that is another issue.

This pitch is 100x easier then england( 2nd test and 3rd test) and WI. But still harder then bamgladesh and England(1st test) where Bobby failed.

So any runs are good enough

 

[G0rmintAunty]

Good going by Babar so far but he has been getting absolute pies tbh apart from the first few balls which he totally missed.

 

[pakistani pride]

So depressing this is. Abudllah is nothing and then the other 2 in top 3 are Imam and Shan. Seriously depressing!

 

[mango_bite77]

Pak has done well to score runs and not just survive . That's the approach they should have.

Crowd looks jubilant after Shan's dismissal though.

 

[pratiktc]

Always good to watch Babar once his feet get moving

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Always good to watch Babar once his feet get moving

He's a very nice batsman to watch when in the groove

 

[Aqib_mustafa]

So depressing this is. Abudllah is nothing and then the other 2 in top 3 are Imam and Shan. Seriously depressing!

What depressing are you guys ever happy bunch of cry babies pakistan is already in winning position thanks to shan and imam

 

[mominsaigol]

Oh imam, you were only 7 runs away

 

[Aqib_mustafa]

Oh imam, you were only 7 runs away

But he played his part pitch is only going to get worse from here any runs around 300 is going to be way too much for south africa

 

[cricfan432]

Collapse?

 

[Raja Ishtiaq]

Why no Rizwan yaar?

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Imam got out wanting his ton before tea

 

[mominsaigol]

Why no Rizwan yaar?

Lol another carrier of the jinx, im infecting everyone

 

[Ahmed216]

That was a great knock from Imam

 

[Raja Ishtiaq]

Shakeel gone lol

 

[cricfan432]

Rizzu and bobzy, partnership made in heaven coming next

 

[Hyder]

Reverse swing at 130?

Better than straight bullets at 130

 

[Savak]

Saud Shakeel, another Abdullah Shafiq softie.

 

[Usman Chadda]

South Africa back in the game.

Soft dismissals before tea.

 

[G0rmintAunty]

Lol, chota don gone.

 

[RidiculousMan]

I don't think this pitch will deteriorate that dramatically. This is not the type of pitch we saw in the West Indies series. Unless Pakistan play really poor cricket, Day 1 is the best time to bat and there is no reason why you shouldn't reap the benefits.

There you go. Two quick wickets.

South Africa on top now.

If Warrican and Motie can destroy Pakistan on spin tracks here than so can Muthuswamy

 

[Ahmed216]

Mental midget Saud departs. Trying to be too cute early on in the innings

 

[Zeshan547]

Wao how to destroy your hard work for whole session in last two balls only. Such mental midgets we have.

 

[Omer2002]

Awful.batting i knew this would happen..i dont know how but somehow we need to get to 300.which will not happen

 

[mominsaigol]

This Pakistani batting lineup is deep if Sajid is no 11 lol

 

[RidiculousMan]

Unlucky for Saud. Need RizBar special now

 

[mominsaigol]

Unlucky for Saud. Need RizBar special now

Naw that was just a brain dead shot

 

[RidiculousMan]

This Pakistani batting lineup is deep if Sajid is no 11 lol

Shaheen should bat at 11. Sajid is a proper no. 8 in Test Cricket.

 

[Ahmed216]

Imam got out wanting his ton before tea

How? Did he play a big shot? I can understand he was bit jittery in the 90's like Sachin Tendulkar

 

[gazza619]

Typical nonsense by our weak minded batters.

 

[Theo_14]

Unlucky for Saud.

Nothing unlucky about it. It was a horrible shot. Lack of awareness and concentration despite it being your first ball is utter incompetence.

 

[RidiculousMan]

Naw that was just a brain dead shot

Happens in Cricket. First ball. It's gripping and turning. Tea is on the hour and you try to defend first one it pops a bit and leading edge goes to hand.

It is a soft dismissal but it is also very unlucky

 

[Ahmed216]

Need to get to 350 in first innings. Should be good enough

 

[Nikhil_cric]

How? Did he play a big shot? I can understand he was bit jittery in the 90's like Sachin Tendulkar

Should have just played out the over

 

[Aqib_mustafa]

South Africa back in the game.

Soft dismissals before tea.

Lol what back in the game you think south africa will play noman and sajid on this pitch they are barely crossing 150 here it's going to get worse for them.

 

[Usman Chadda]

Lol what back in the game you think south africa will play noman and sajid on this pitch they are barely crossing 150 here it's going to get worse for them.

We have to wait and see how it goes in the South African innings.

The pitch is decent, not too threatening but I’m not sure about South Africa’s spin playing credentials.

 

[RidiculousMan]

If the pitch will get worse quickly. South Africa won't survive against Noman and Sajid

 

[cricfan432]

Lol what back in the game you think south africa will play noman and sajid on this pitch they are barely crossing 150 here it's going to get worse for them.

South africa did well against bamgladesh tests in bangladesh. And tbh pitch is not rank turner

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

There you go. Two quick wickets.

South Africa on top now.

If Warrican and Motie can destroy Pakistan on spin tracks here than so can Muthuswamy

The Saud wicket was more down to poor batting than good bowling. The ball didn't even turn that much

 

[RyanRyan10]

Mental midget Saud departs. Trying to be too cute early on in the innings

averages 50 in tests

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

I'm sure @Rana is looking forward to the last session. His two favorite players will be batting together

 

[Aqib_mustafa]

South africa did well against bamgladesh tests in bangladesh. And tbh pitch is not rank turner

Pitch is still turning tbh i know it's not that bad yet will it's only going to get worse.

 

[Rana]

I'm sure @Rana is looking forward to the last session. His two favorite players will be batting together

If these two have retired in T20i

And that lipstick queen is removed from ODI captaincy and no.4 position…

I don’t really have much hatred against them.

 

[BouncerGuy]

LOL at Saud.. What a mental midget he is

 

[Aqib_mustafa]

LOL at Saud.. What a mental midget he is

He averages 50 what do you want him to do he will again score runs he is that good

 

[RyanRyan10]

Pitch is still turning tbh i know it's not that bad yet will it's only going to get worse.

All these guys are panicking. So just relax and have a laugh at them when SA bat and start collapsing.

 

[Ahmed216]

averages 50 in tests

Doesn't matter. Threw away his wicket right at the stroke of Tea. I've seen batsmen far better than him who would choke in such situations

 

[Rana]

South Africa the land of opportunity

I’m sure there are plenty of underrated, good quality spinners in Pakistan who can take a leap of faith and move there just like Imran Tahir did.

These spinners they have brought are so underwhelming

 

[BouncerGuy]

He averages 50 what do you want him to do he will again score runs he is that good

He should have been more careful before tea... It was a pathetic soft shot to get out... He is supposed to be pur best batter against Spin.. Isn't he?

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

How is Saud a mental midget? This is a very low-pressure situation

 

[Rana]

How is Saud a mental midget? This is a very low-pressure situation

Everyone is a mental midget in this team apparently besides Babar and Rizwan according to @Ahmed216 and @BouncerGuy

 

[RyanRyan10]

Doesn't matter. Threw away his wicket right at the stroke of Tea. I've seen batsmen far better than him who would choke in such situations

he won Pak the series in SL, played a match winning knock vs Eng, played a fighting knock in SA. Name a Pak batter who has performed better than him since his debut.

 

[Savak]

Saud Shakeel will turn out like a left handed version of Asad Shafiq ie one good knock followed by ten failures and his supporters will fall back on "but but he is averaging 50". With players like Abdullah and Saud, you are on average playing with 9 players.

 

[Savak]

he won Pak the series in SL, played a match winning knock vs Eng, played a fighting knock in SA. Name a Pak batter who has performed better than him since his debut.

We should forget his failures in that whitewash against Bangladesh and the defeat to the West Indies?

 

[Rana]

We should forget his failures in that whitewash against Bangladesh and the defeat to the West Indies?

Why not?

You’ve forgotten the countless failures of Babar who keeps getting picked without playing any red ball cricket once he’s dropped for a couple of games

 

[RyanRyan10]

We should forget his failures in that whitewash against Bangladesh and the defeat to the West Indies?

should he perform in every match? Tell me, which Pak batter has performed better than him since his debut?

 

[Rana]

Saud Shakeel will turn out like a left handed version of Asad Shafiq

Saud is the best Batsman in this side.

He will show it.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Saud Shakeel will turn out like a left handed version of Asad Shafiq ie one good knock followed by ten failures and his supporters will fall back on "but but he is averaging 50". With players like Abdullah and Saud, you are on average playing with 9 players.

LOL... Just like many other players... Abdullah is nothing player.. still people love him... Saud most of the times falls short when there is nothing much to do but his brainfades cost us.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Everyone is a mental midget in this team apparently besides Babar and Rizwan according to @Ahmed216 and @BouncerGuy

There isn't a single other batsman in this team who averages 50. Pakistan fans should be more grateful to have a batsman like Saud who has already played some fantastic knocks for Pakistan in test cricket.

 

[Ahmed216]

Looking forward to watching after tea break. Every ball is a joy to watch when Rizzu is at the crease

 

[Aqib_mustafa]

Man ball is turning huge south africa in big trouble here