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

[Deewana Mastana]

The stadium looks awful

The signs on hem look cheap and atrocious

One says Wasim Akram Encl whats the point of that write the whole thing or just leave it

Naqvi take note

 

[Sunny_majoka]

Salman plays better as a player, he was playing like a tailender in Asia cup

 

[Rana]

@Rana fuming somewhere

We saw the fumes coming out of your tashreef when Farhan was banging Bumrah

 

[Deewana Mastana]

50 for Agha

 

[Deewana Mastana]

Does Pak have a spin coach in there?

 

[Aqib_mustafa]

Does Pak have a spin coach in there?

Ya abdur rehman

 

[Hyder]

Were the tickets given out for free?

Never seen this crowd turnout for a test match in Pakistan

Yes ig. Entry is free. Even in past tickets were always cheap with as low as 200 pkr.

 

[pratiktc]

Pak need to get up to 425-450 and then turn screws on SA

 

[mominsaigol]

Day 1 stumps. Excellent batting performance by Pakistan today(excluding babar, saud and Abdullah)

Great performance

 

[sweep_shot]

Day 1 was won by Pakistan.

PAK - 313/5.

Stumps.

 

[Deewana Mastana]

It's a shame that nobody converted their starts to a big score.

 

[sweep_shot]

It's a shame that nobody converted their starts to a big score.

313/5.

Good total on the board.

Just have to take it to 500.

 

[Deewana Mastana]

313/5.

Good total on the board.

Just have to take it to 500.

I'm not talking about the end of day score, it is more about none of them were able to get to a 100 which wasn't good after their 90's and 70's.

 

[sweep_shot]

I'm not talking about the end of day score, it is more about none of them were able to get to a 100 which wasn't good after their 90's and 70's.

I see.

Yeah. You can say that.

Rizwan and Agha now have an opportunity to get big scores.

 

[Aqib_mustafa]

I'm not talking about the end of day score, it is more about none of them were able to get to a 100 which wasn't good after their 90's and 70's.

Have you seen the pitch it was turning sharply when babar got out and pakistan has runs on the board with sajid and noman pakistan should win it

 

[Deewana Mastana]

Have you seen the pitch it was turning sharply when babar got out and pakistan has runs on the board with sajid and noman pakistan should win it

And you're saying 350 is enough to win it

 

[Aqib_mustafa]

And you're saying 350 is enough to win it

Ofcourse you see these south african will play nomam and sajid on this track seriously no way even if south africa bat well pak will still win it with their spinners

 

[mango_bite77]

It's a shame that nobody converted their starts to a big score.

Doesn't matter, as long as team is in good position

 

[Deewana Mastana]

Ofcourse you see these south african will play nomam and sajid on this track seriously no way even if south africa bat well pak will still win it with their spinners

Let's hope so

 

[Deewana Mastana]

Doesn't matter, as long as team is in good position

Let's hope so

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

South Africa's fielding was uncharacteristically poor, but can't take anything away from the counterpunch from Agha and Rizwan. Both batted at a really good tempo with good strike rotation. Put Pakistan on top after three quick wickets.

 

[RidiculousMan]

Rizwan the backbone for Pakistan Test team. Saving again

 

[RidiculousMan]

Salman plays better as a player, he was playing like a tailender in Asia cup

Different formats. He always great in Test Cricket

 

[Aqib_mustafa]

Different formats. He always great in Test Cricket

Bro this is by no means a flat track i think day 2 pitch is going to get even harder spinners will play a huge role there was 6 degree spin on offer.

 

[Katwalindian]

Different formats. He always great in Test Cricket

Mixing formats is national hobby of Pakistan......he along with rizwan are two best test bat's...

 

[Ball Blazer]

Pakistan 313/5 (Imam 93, Masood 76, Rizwan 62, Agha 52, Muthusamy 2-101) vs South Africa, 1st Test, Day 2

A solid all-round batting effort, highlighted by two crucial partnerships, handed Pakistan the upper hand on day one against World Test Champions South Africa. Imam-ul-Haq and Shan Masood added 161 runs for the second wicket, while Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Agha closed out the day with an unbroken 114-run stand. All four batters reached half-centuries, with Imam falling agonisingly short of a well-deserved hundred.

Despite glimpses of control in the middle session, South Africa’s bowlers struggled to maintain pressure on a pitch already showing signs of wear. They briefly sparked a comeback with three wickets for no run around the tea interval, reducing Pakistan from 199/2 to 199/5, but dropped catches and inconsistent bowling allowed Pakistan to regain control.

South Africa’s inexperienced attack — featuring three spinners and two seamers — toiled hard on a turning track. The spin trio of Senuran Muthusamy, Simon Harmer, and Prenelan Subrayen bowled 74 overs between them, taking four wickets but conceding 248 runs as Pakistan capitalised on loose deliveries.

Earlier, Kagiso Rabada struck in the first over, trapping Abdullah Shafique lbw for a duck, but Masood’s counterattack, including a towering six off Subrayen, set the tone for Pakistan’s aggressive intent. Imam’s fluent stroke play and smart rotation of strike guided Pakistan to 107/1 by lunch.

Masood reached his fifty after the break but fell lbw to Subrayen for 76, ending a fine stand. Babar Azam’s arrival was met with cheers, though his stay was brief — Harmer trapped him plumb for 21 after surviving an earlier close call on review. Imam’s dismissal for 93 and Saud Shakeel’s soft return catch to Muthusamy gave South Africa hope, but Rizwan’s calm resilience and Agha’s composure tilted momentum back to Pakistan.

By stumps, Pakistan’s total of 313/5 looked commanding on a surface likely to deteriorate further. With runs already on the board and spin expected to dominate, Pakistan hold the advantage heading into day two.

 

[gazza619]

Riz saves the day again.

 

[shaz619]

Test cricket @ an all time low, what a horrible bowling attack besides Rabada. Quiet straight forward to get hundreds here if you apply yourselves, especially when you win the toss & get this flat mamba.

 

[Wasim Ghulam]

Crease bound Babar, cannot play the sweep shot to disturb the bowler. Babar is the easiest dream batter to bowl too for a B grade spinner

Younis Khan would have absolutely Mauled these B grade Spinners with his sweeps

 

[Aqib_mustafa]

Test cricket @ an all time low, what a horrible bowling attack besides Rabada. Quiet straight forward to get hundreds here if you apply yourselves, especially when you win the toss & get this flat mamba.

This is anything but flat track watch same nomam and sajid making south africa look clueless.

 

[AamchiMumbaikar]

Solid day for Pak. Good score. Is Babar done ? Looks like he's out of form for a very long time now

 

[AamchiMumbaikar]

Test cricket @ an all time low, what a horrible bowling attack besides Rabada. Quiet straight forward to get hundreds here if you apply yourselves, especially when you win the toss & get this flat mamba.

It might turn from day 3

 

[shaz619]

This is anything but flat track watch same nomam and sajid making south africa look clueless.

Day 1 it’s fine

 

[shaz619]

It might turn from day 3

I would only count runs from that day in that case

 

[shaz619]

Solid day for Pak. Good score. Is Babar done ? Looks like he's out of form for a very long time now

Whoever said he was going to be better than Mohammad Yousuf was a grade A clown.

 

[gazza619]

This is anything but flat track watch same nomam and sajid making south africa look clueless.

I beg to differ. I am expecting SA to pile 600 runs.

 

[shaz619]

Younis Khan would have absolutely Mauled these B grade Spinners with his sweeps

Mohammad Yousuf as well, would have finished with an average of 60 if he got to play in the UAE, I think we didn’t value these players enough when it came to asian conditions, Khan was generally under-appreciated across the board

 

[zahid01]

Salman plays better as a player, he was playing like a tailender in Asia cup

He was playing on a wrong format

 

[sweep_shot]

He was playing on a wrong format

This.

He is more suitable for Test and ODI.

 

[Boyka]

We need Rizwan back in all formats

 

[zahid01]

This.

He is more suitable for Test and ODI.

I agree he's a good player in longer format we pick players for wrong formats and they underperform and attract criticism unfairly

 

[mominsaigol]

I beg to differ. I am expecting SA to pile 600 runs.

They won't come anywhere close.

 

[mominsaigol]

313/5.

Good total on the board.

Just have to take it to 500.

See i told you, SA got lucky in wtc. They didn't play the top sides, played mostly at home, and vs Australia they got lucky with the toss.

By the time the pitch became a road, Australia were 8 down and only a decent batting performance by starc gave Australia a medicore total to defend.

NZ, Eng, Aus are better test teams then SA.

SA is a gun Odi team and a solid t20 side that keeps getting unlucky in world tournaments. In test their okay and rode their luck well.

 

[mominsaigol]

Sajid and Noman do have their work cut out for them tbf.

This pitch isnt a road by any means and Pakistan have batted beautifully but it isn’t a doctored mamba either like it was vs Eng and WI.

Its a standard sub continent spin pitch and SA is capable of handling it

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Sajid and Noman do have their work cut out for them tbf.

This pitch isnt a road by any means and Pakistan have batted beautifully but it isn’t a doctored mamba either like it was vs Eng and WI.

Its a standard sub continent spin pitch and SA is capable of handling it

This makes the most interesting cricket

 

[Kianig89]

Pakistan needs atleast 150 more runs to be in the ascendancy , SA will score at brisk pace when they bat

 

[Aqib_mustafa]

Sajid and Noman do have their work cut out for them tbf.

This pitch isnt a road by any means and Pakistan have batted beautifully but it isn’t a doctored mamba either like it was vs Eng and WI.

Its a standard sub continent spin pitch and SA is capable of handling it

Bro this pitch is like those uae pitches in misbah time in uae bat first score 400 or above let the pitch break in second day and let your spinners come into play.

 

[mominsaigol]

Bro this pitch is like those uae pitches in misbah time in uae bat first score 400 or above let the pitch break in second day and let your spinners come into play.

Pakistan in UAE even batting 2nd would easily win.

Our UAE side had chuckers + their wasnt a single batsmen excluding Hafeez who avg under 40. The pace bowling was better as well.

That side is heads and shoulders > this one. If anything I'm actually shocked how well Pakistan has batted as I expected them to fold. But imam, Rizwan, Agha and Shan have batted beautifully on this wicket.

 

[Josh]

Lucky toss to win for Pakistan and they seem to have fully capitalized. Big defeat loading for SA

 

[mon858]

Anything 375 plus is good barring major collapse in 2nd inning game is in the bag with the amount of help for spin and cracks on pitch.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

It was a good day for Pakistan, which is rare to see in test cricket. Not only did Pakistan bat well but the crowd turnout added to the atmosphere and showed what a great sight test cricket being popular in Pakistan can look like. More often than not you get to see that empty Multan stadium with 5 people and 3 birds in the stands, so I hope that we see more days like these were fans are out in numbers to watch test cricket.

I just can't help but think of how much more awesome it would have been if Babar scored a half-century or a ton. Because the crowd were cheering for him before he even came out. It's a damn shame to see how much he has regressed in recent times because he is so much better than that. And this was the perfect opportunity to come out and regain some form on your home ground. The crowd reaction would have been incredible if he got to a milestone..

 

[Shaka81]

I don't know why someone people always link Babar and Rizwan. They are very different types of players and Rizwan is easily the best wicketkeeper batsman in Pakistan. He needs to be backed. Whereas Babar needs some time in domestic cricket to find his form.

 

[Human786]

378 is a good score , I was expecting 350 yesterday ... 67 overs left for the day , predict SAF's score at close !
I think 180/6 .

 

[Human786]

378 is a good score , I was expecting 350 yesterday ... 67 overs left for the day , predict SAF's score at close !
I think 180/6 .

MODS - please delete .