What's new

Mohammad Hafeez's century the highlight of Day 1 of the 1st Test between Pakistan and Australia

This is now Pakistans 5th highest opening stand in test cricket. Class is in session boys Mohammed Hafeez teaching the boys how it's done
 
Excellent batting so far. Pitch may be easier to bat, yet takes some effort to be 199/0 against an attack of Starc and Lyon.

Well done to Hafeez for a very good comeback 100. Imam has been very solid too, deserves a test hundred.
 
Tbf star has bowled really well and pak have just played his overs out, which is fair enough. Lyon has had to toil on a day one pitch against good batting. The rest are fodder but Pakistan should up the scoring rate a bit.
 
barah_admi said:
Tbf star has bowled really well and pak have just played his overs out, which is fair enough. Lyon has had to toil on a day one pitch against good batting. The rest are fodder but Pakistan should up the scoring rate a bit.
Click to expand...

Starc has been unlucky but Pakistan have hardly "played his overs out" given his e/r is touching 4.
 
This is problem with Azhar at three.

Such a beautiful platform set but Azhar will motor along.
 
Well played MoHa, well played - must have missed a treat. Now for PAK, key in this Test is RR - should look to get all out or declare 35 minutes before Tea on Day 2.
 
Imagine Wasim and Waqar bowling with this tattered ball in these conditions. They'd knock over the opposition in a session.
 
Azhar Ali ki straight drive is probably one of the best shots in cricket at the moment.
 
MMHS said:
Well played MoHa, well played - must have missed a treat. Now for PAK, key in this Test is RR - should look to get all out or declare 35 minutes before Tea on Day 2.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. If Pakistan can score 550+, they can bat till last hour of Day 2 as well. Which is what they should do. Giving the Aussies only an hour at day end and knocking a couple before stumps will ensure Australians enter Day 3 deflated. Getting all out for 400 half an hour before tea gives Australia the chance to remain in the test and them having to bat for 50 overs in the day will also give them time to settle in.

Pakistan should look to bat till last hour on day 2 and rack up 550. As it is, Pakistan going at 3.2 RPO is exceptional as per UAE standards. No need to rush things.
 
Extremely unlucky there Hafeez..
Nevertheless we’ll played.
 
AFM said:
Lol selfish review
Click to expand...

How was it selfish. The ball was reversing a lot. Hit him on middle/leg stump. As it is, with umpires call, review was retained. So nothing lost.
 
Azhar Ali is not a number 3. In this situation you need your number 3 to move the game forward. Azhar has put us under pressure with his blocking.
 
shariqnoor said:
Not necessarily. If Pakistan can score 550+, they can bat till last hour of Day 2 as well. Which is what they should do. Giving the Aussies only an hour at day end and knocking a couple before stumps will ensure Australians enter Day 3 deflated. Getting all out for 400 half an hour before tea gives Australia the chance to remain in the test and them having to bat for 50 overs in the day will also give them time to settle in.

Pakistan should look to bat till last hour on day 2 and rack up 550. As it is, Pakistan going at 3.2 RPO is exceptional as per UAE standards. No need to rush things.
Click to expand...

At current over rate, since spinners will bowl most overs, 35 minutes before tea, gives 145 overs - at 3.3+, that takes score over 500. 35 minutes before tea means, session won't be called early - Aussies will have to bat for 5-6 overs before tea after toiling for 10 hours in this heat, then start again after 20 minutes break, this time against spinners, finally, day ends before a substantial score, and they'll start Day 3 against Wahab with a 33 overs old ball. For Aussies to bat 50 overs on Day 2, PAK needs to get all-out or declare 35 minutes after lunch, not before tea.

PAK should NEVER enforce follow-on at UAE, even if the lead is 350, that'll kill Yasir, therefore batting too long in 1st innings isn't effective always. Rather, even if Aussies reach within 100 runs on Day 4 morning, best is to bat positively in 2nd innings & set something like 350 with 105 overs at hand. Batting looooong in 1st Innings works in AUS, IND or ENG, because you can bat for once & still can enforce the follow on; in UAE, teams must bat for 3-4 hours 2nd time to give bowlers some rest & also use the heavy roller to break these mud beds. Wickets don't break that much in UAE, rather it gets slower & lower - roller has a big impact n Test wickets there, Misbah used that formula quite successfully.
 
I don't know why Australia doesn't give Ashton Agar more chances? He would have been very handy on these pitches.
Lyon has bowled 27 overs today with no real spinner backing him up. He is going to break down at this rate.
 
Azhar Ali looks so bogged down and likely to get out any time. Just has not been the same batsman since the retirement of Younis and Misbah
 
Azhar Ali will never become a top class batsman, no matter how many runs he scores. There's no intent on scoring runs whether he's 0 or 150 not out. Does not possess the capability to move a Test match forward and does not recognize match situations. This situation was tailor made for Azhar to come in and score at a 70+ SR after the fall of the first wicket for his first 30 runs to deflate the Australians further. Instead he's given them a look in.
 
Not enough sustained pressure from the other end. Lyon has bowled well but Holland has released all the pressure.
 
No run scored in last 32 balls. Run rate will play a role here. If Pakistan don't get more than 500, this might be a draw although Australian batting is too fragile for these conditions.
 
It's really disappointing that Arthur is pushing Azhar at 3, which often is counter productive. He came at 200+ for 1, now 6 of 35 with one boundary - this is recipe for disaster.
 
MMHS said:
It's really disappointing that Arthur is pushing Azhar at 3, which often is counter productive. He came at 200+ for 1, now 6 of 35 with one boundary - this is recipe for disaster.
Click to expand...

Another poor decision. Think tank can't even get basic selections right !!!!!!
 
Josh said:
No run scored in last 32 balls. Run rate will play a role here. If Pakistan don't get more than 500, this might be a draw although Australian batting is too fragile for these conditions.
Click to expand...

MoHa has played too well & that opening partnership has almost won the Test for PAK - wait to see AUS batting here, once the ball is a bit old. 500 was a dream situation, anything over 350, AUS won't save this game.
 
MMHS said:
It's really disappointing that Arthur is pushing Azhar at 3, which often is counter productive. He came at 200+ for 1, now 6 of 35 with one boundary - this is recipe for disaster.
Click to expand...

What position should he play at then? He is kept at 3 incase openers get out early.
 
Azhar Ali should not bat at 3 ever but especially not in the UAE. You can't afford dead batting in a situation like this when the bowlers aren't fresh.
 
MMHS said:
MoHa has played too well & that opening partnership has almost won the Test for PAK - wait to see AUS batting here, once the ball is a bit old. 500 was a dream situation, anything over 350, AUS won't save this game.
Click to expand...

Quite possible if the pitch deteorates. But it will not be a very advantageous position. Will depend on Yasir and other spinners.
 
Azhar 6 off 41. Last hour of day's play coming up. If the ball is gonna reverse and spin this much, the likes of Khwaja should announce their retirement already.
 
Josh said:
What position should he play at then? He is kept at 3 incase openers get out early.
Click to expand...

His ONLY spot is opener, where he can take all his time & even take 100 overs to reach 100. No. 3 is most dynamic position in Test batting, where one needs different gears for 20/1 or 200/1 situations and a solid defense as well for 2/1 situation. IND's batting is so dominant at home because Pujara at 3 is a 65/65 sort of player there; it struggles away because he becomes like 35/35 there.
 
Can Pakistan reach 250 at the end of this day. On this tough batting condition?
 
This is such a borefest. Tuk-tuking at 200-1 is quite a shameless thing to do.
 
Pak really doesn't have any replacement of Younus Khan. It's such a major reason for our decline in form in UAE.

Say as much about Hafeez as you can but he's the only stroke player in the team in UAE conditions. And that's how bad things are for us at the moment.
 
MMHS said:
At current over rate, since spinners will bowl most overs, 35 minutes before tea, gives 145 overs - at 3.3+, that takes score over 500. 35 minutes before tea means, session won't be called early - Aussies will have to bat for 5-6 overs before tea after toiling for 10 hours in this heat, then start again after 20 minutes break, this time against spinners, finally, day ends before a substantial score, and they'll start Day 3 against Wahab with a 33 overs old ball. For Aussies to bat 50 overs on Day 2, PAK needs to get all-out or declare 35 minutes after lunch, not before tea.

PAK should NEVER enforce follow-on at UAE, even if the lead is 350, that'll kill Yasir, therefore batting too long in 1st innings isn't effective always. Rather, even if Aussies reach within 100 runs on Day 4 morning, best is to bat positively in 2nd innings & set something like 350 with 105 overs at hand. Batting looooong in 1st Innings works in AUS, IND or ENG, because you can bat for once & still can enforce the follow on; in UAE, teams must bat for 3-4 hours 2nd time to give bowlers some rest & also use the heavy roller to break these mud beds. Wickets don't break that much in UAE, rather it gets slower & lower - roller has a big impact n Test wickets there, Misbah used that formula quite successfully.
Click to expand...

I don't want Aussies to bat for 50 overs on Day 2. I want them to bat only for 15-20 overs. That allows Pakistan to nip a couple of wickets on Day 2 which deflates them for Day 3. If Aussies get to play 50 overs, it would mean Pakistan were out for 400 ish since Pakistan cannot increase the run-rate unless Sarfraz gets into form and plays a great 80 at run-a-ball. The reason Pakistan is batting at 3.1-3.2 RPO was only because of Hafeez. You have already seen the decline in the run-rate once he departed. There is nothing to suggest that Pakistan can increase the run rate and that too without losing wickets.

Yes, Pakistan should never enforce the follow-on at UAE and they haven't ever. Batting long in the first innings does not dampen your chance of getting a result. In fact it gives Pakistan additional cushion in terms of 1st innings lead. Ideally you want Pakistan to score 550 and get a 200 run lead. If you get a 200 run lead, you still get two and a half sessions where you can score 250 and get the lead to 450 while giving you 140-150 overs to bowl out the opposition in the 2nd innings.

Misbah batted for 160+ overs in the Abu Dhabi test against Australia in 2014 without enforcing the follow on and still had about half a day left on Day 5 when the Test finished. Runs in the 1st innings are extremely crucial. To win Tests in the UAE, you need as big a lead as possible in the 1st innings. We all know Day 4 and Day 5 in the UAE will bring you loads of wickets so the prospect of a team not having enough time to take wickets does not hold true.
 
And Wahab Riaz with 33 overs old ball is going to do absolutely nothing. 33 over ball in the UAE does nothing. Wahab will become effective only when the ball is 60ish over old.
 
GoUgandaCranes said:
Pak really doesn't have any replacement of Younus Khan. It's such a major reason for our decline in form in UAE.

Say as much about Hafeez as you can but he's the only stroke player in the team in UAE conditions. And that's how bad things are for us at the moment.
Click to expand...

Hafeez at 4 in the UAE is an adequate replacement.
 
Lyon just does not have a good arm ball. This particular ball should drift in sharply if he did have one. Particularly for LHB's like Haris Sohail
 
Haris bro is doing couple of level better than Azhar. I don't understand, why PAK team plays like a scared bunch once a little pressure is put - here AUS should be shaking with a prospect of facing at least 450 and they are damn tiered.
 
The fact that a HOME team is struggling to score a run after being 220/1 epitomizes why Pakistan consistently loses tests at home. Any decent home team would've scored comfortably here. Instead, apparently the best Test bat in the country is 7 off 47 balls. Timid is the correct word for our batsmen.
 
What a boring batsman Azhar Ali and Haris copying him!!! Hafeez is so better than this Azhar turtle.
 
Lol a good little parternship providing stability to wicket falls 4 of 60 ball.

Haris strike rate 3.8
 
Last edited:
MMHS said:
His ONLY spot is opener, where he can take all his time & even take 100 overs to reach 100. No. 3 is most dynamic position in Test batting, where one needs different gears for 20/1 or 200/1 situations and a solid defense as well for 2/1 situation. IND's batting is so dominant at home because Pujara at 3 is a 65/65 sort of player there; it struggles away because he becomes like 35/35 there.
Click to expand...

Agreed with this.
 
We can't keep Imam, Haris and Azhar in a same squad. They are too slow and encourage for opposition bowlers.
 
In UAE, PAK team is heading towards like IND of 60s & 70s - spin quartet & Gavaskar, Pataudi, Amarnath to take the shine of new ball once it's essential to take one. Only difference is, IND knew the tactics and here Arthur is trying with 1 spinner & 3 spin "all-rounders".
 
Batting like this Azhar will be always known as an average batsman. This guy only knows how to leave the balls, block and struggle a way to score runs.
Players like Dawan, Kohli or even Rohit will massacre Australian bowlers
 
At least now they are scoring a couple of runs in each over good relief from maidens.
 
Standard UAE score on Day 1 - MoHa played exceptionally well, hence it might reach 250/2 or 3; otherwise 201/2 on Day 1 :(

UAE wickets are a major reason for PAK's downfall in batting and pace bowling. Every PAK pacer these days try to rough-up the ball and use cross seem, instead of trying to swing the new ball.
 
People need to calm down. 15 minutes to go until the end of play.

Get through it and then make the Aussies toil in the heat tomorrow.
 
Haris is done if he plays like this!!!!! He can't survive longer by playing like Azhar. He is a proper batsman.
 
dilojaanpakistan said:
if i am not mistaken, most of his chances came in difficult conditions compare to these GT roads where these guys are getting their chances on. mainly played in aus/eng and didn't do bad
Click to expand...

He played 7 Tests in Asia. 5 in UAE and 2 in Bangladesh. The only thing he is good at is blunting the new ball, he doesn't cash in. Imam for a start, has been taking his scores to 60s or 70s and in his first Test in UAE. Let him play a few more series before judging him.
 
Spinners starting to get a grip on this track now. Good signs for Pakistan and Yasi Shah in particular
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Cricket Warrior
England reach 96/1 in reply to Pakistan's first Innings total of 556 at stumps on Day 2 of the first Test
7 8 9
Replies
714
Views
15K
Savak
Savak
The Bald Eagle
New Zealand (220/6) outclass Pakistan (105) by 115 runs in the fourth T20I to take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the 5-match series
10 11 12
Replies
949
Views
15K
RizwanT20Champ
R
FearlessRoar
  • Locked
Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan hit fifties as Pakistan reach 143/4 at the end of Day 1 of the first Test against West Indies
3 4 5
Replies
370
Views
8K
Hyder
H
FearlessRoar
Pakistan reach 109/3 at the end of Day 2 of the first Test against the West Indies, with a lead of 202 runs
4 5 6
Replies
465
Views
8K
Amjid Javed
Amjid Javed
The Bald Eagle
New Zealand (92/1) crush Pakistan (91) by 9 wickets in the first T20I game and lead the 5-match series 1-0
8 9 10
Replies
746
Views
14K
daytrader
daytrader
Back
Top