Pakistan [274/7] defeat South Africa [273/6] by 3 wickets in 1st ODI last-ball thriller

[Titan24]

Imam has shown his capability of surviving a tough spell. Should be included in the test line up.

He is has a pretty solid temperament and has the ability to play the ball late while being behind the ball. Few shortcomings but thats not unexpected at 24-25 years of age. If he works hard and Pak develops him well he can come in pretty handy in handy in tests as well.

 

[Thanos]

Good cricket by Imam and Babar so far after early wicket of Zaman.

 

[Mesozoic]

That mini conference of Bavuma, Rabada and Ngidi symbolises so much...

 

[Major]

btw is danish aziz a hitter or a middle order batsmen? I havent seen him play

 

[Forward Defensive Push]

Shot of the match. What timing, what placement... Babar take a bow

 

[JibranAnsari]

I had almost forgotten how miserable to watch imam was.

 

[marlonbrowndo]

Unreal shot by Babar. I feel aroused

 

[Amjid Javed]

Diff between babar and imam is that both tend to start inns slow but babar has ability to pick his scoring rate up through the inns to get over any slow starts.

 

[Ahmed216]

btw is danish aziz a hitter or a middle order batsmen? I havent seen him play

Rated as a finisher. Me too havent seen him

 

[Sunzi]

Oh shot oy, Babar! Shabash.

 

[Thanos]

I haven't seen much batting of Babar due to absence of Ind-Pak matches. Saw few footages on YouTube and social media.

Today I watched first 10 balls he played in his inning and I personally feel he has improved a lot. He was good earlier and is getting better and better. He is going to stay in ICC ranking for long time. Best find for Pakistan in Last 10-15 years.

 

[shamaan]

17 off 31 balls

Its fine we are chasing 274 not 330

 

[Titan24]

Eng’s approach in ODI cricket has set unrealistic benchmarks for most teams and fans should realize that. Yes you should ideally be getting quick starts but, 50 overs are a lot to cover anything if you have wickets in hand especially in the middle overs now with not much lateral movement and 4 fielders outside.

 

[shamaan]

btw is danish aziz a hitter or a middle order batsmen? I havent seen him play

Hes a middle order once he settles he can finish the game

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

btw is danish aziz a hitter or a middle order batsmen? I havent seen him play

A middle order batsman who can hit big shots. Not a slogger at all, all about timing.

 

[Rana]

Imam isn’t up for fearless cricket

 

[Ahmed216]

Tht was babar's call. Shameless imam cant get the ball off the square and denying easy singles too

 

[JibranAnsari]

It was babars call, really poor by imam ul haq.

 

[shamaan]

Eng’s approach in ODI cricket has set unrealistic benchmarks for most teams and fans should realize that. Yes you should ideally be getting quick starts but, 50 overs are a lot to cover anything if you have wickets in hand especially in the middle overs now with not much lateral movement and 4 fielders outside.

Exactly england strength is thier batting each team has thier own philosophy

 

[shamaan]

Poor call from imaam

 

[Rana]

Imam is a zero% risk player

This guy would have been a legend in the Gavaskar to 2003 era.

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

Eng’s approach in ODI cricket has set unrealistic benchmarks for most teams and fans should realize that. Yes you should ideally be getting quick starts but, 50 overs are a lot to cover anything if you have wickets in hand especially in the middle overs now with not much lateral movement and 4 fielders outside.

If teams dont lose a quick wickets succession, most lineups can have decent totals in modern day cricket.

Problem is Imam's dot balls. He wastes a lot of deliveries. Needs to convert them into singles if he wants to improve and Pak wants to score 320+ more consistently on better tracks.

Shehzad and Azhar Ali used to have the same issue and it cost us on good batting wickets.

 

[Titan24]

Poor from Imam. It was Babar’s call as he was running towards danger end so he should have responded for the single. Need to work on communication

 

[JibranAnsari]

Shamsi to get imam

 

[Hasan123]

Shamsi on.

 

[marlonbrowndo]

Shamsi really troubled us in the recent series

 

[Rana]

Rameez Raja

“Thanks paawms”

So charming

 

[JibranAnsari]

Its going to be tough to face shamsi

 

[marlonbrowndo]

Does shamsi fill the quota?

 

[Shoaibbtt]

Babar has done exactly the same thing.

Looking a bit more stable now, but let's see what happens. Need to start upping the rate.

 

[ChTab]

Babar's nightmare (left arm spinner)

 

[Amjid Javed]

Imam isn’t up for fearless cricket

Usual selfish batting. Easy to get runs on good wickets when all you do is block abd take no risks.

Niether him or fakhar should open in odis.

 

[Rayyman]

Good start boyzzz

 

[topspin]

South Africa don't need to dismiss Imam. He's helping their cause.

 

[Hasan123]

Does shamsi fill the quota?

Yes.

 

[marlonbrowndo]

Imam hasn’t been as bad as people are saying. But he does need to get going in the next 2 or 3 overs

 

[Sunzi]

Rameez Raja

“Thanks paawms”

So charming

Until he started talking too much about aesthetically pleasing Babar and warranting "an extra 10 points" looool

Too much sometimes Rambo.

 

[Firebat]

I don't mind Imam's lack of risk, the issue is the dot balls.

If he was consistently rotating strike risk free, he'd be close to a run a ball strike rate and playing the situation brilliantly.

But when you eat so many dot balls up, you have to make up for it with boundaries and risk (like Babar did).

 

[Amjid Javed]

I don't mind Imam's lack of risk, the issue is the dot balls.

If he was consistently rotating strike risk free, he'd be close to a run a ball strike rate and playing the situation brilliantly.

But when you eat so many dot balls up, you have to make up for it with boundaries and risk (like Babar did).

Issue one dot balls
Issue two doesnt have ability to pick scoring rate up
Issue three selfish batting

 

[Gullycricket]

I don't mind Imam's lack of risk, the issue is the dot balls.

If he was consistently rotating strike risk free, he'd be close to a run a ball strike rate and playing the situation brilliantly.

But when you eat so many dot balls up, you have to make up for it with boundaries and risk (like Babar did).

You will see him convert this comfortably at SR of 85 and he will stay till end atleast. He is mentally tough and best openor we have tbh

 

[Hasan123]

Quality ball.

 

[Rayyman]

Imam hasn’t been as bad as people are saying. But he does need to get going in the next 2 or 3 overs

I don't mind Imam's lack of risk, the issue is the dot balls.

If he was consistently rotating strike risk free, he'd be close to a run a ball strike rate and playing the situation brilliantly.

But when you eat so many dot balls up, you have to make up for it with boundaries and risk (like Babar did).

Issue one dot balls
Issue two doesnt have ability to pick scoring rate up
Issue three selfish batting

He started slow, but is 22 off his last 20 balls.

 

[Titan24]

Problem is Imam's dot balls. He wastes a lot of deliveries. Needs to convert them into singles if he wants to improve and Pak wants to score 320+ more consistently on better tracks.

Shehzad and Azhar Ali used to have the same issue and it cost us on good batting wickets.

I completely agree that strike rotation should be better but, at the same time we should realize we dont have much solid batsmen who can play good balls reasonably well. Also lets not forget he is still young and developing his game.

Not a perfect opener by any means currently but I believe currently he is an important member of Pak ODIs side considering the Pak’s batting inherent nature of early collapse and being out of the game at the very start. If he doesn’t develop and we get some complete young batsmen who have solid temperament and can see off the good balls than obviously they will come into the side.

Ability to be able to be able to see off good balls is as important for an opener as his ability to hit boundaries especially for an un dependable batting lineup.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Imam has shown his capability of surviving a tough spell. Should be included in the test line up.

Oh please. Your playing on a flat ODI wicket with not many slips, limit on bouncers etc..

Playing safety free cricket on a good batting wicket is pathetic.

Imam knows if he plays with any aggression he will get out.

 

[marlonbrowndo]

Is there anything worse than these PTV sports voiceover ads

 

[Amjid Javed]

I completely agree that strike rotation should be better but, at the same time we should realize we dont have much solid batsmen who can play good balls reasonably well. Also lets not forget he is still young and developing his game.

Not a perfect opener by any means currently but I believe currently he is an important member of Pak ODIs side considering the Pak’s batting inherent nature of early collapse and being out of the game at the very start. If he doesn’t develop and we get some complete young batsmen who have solid temperament and can see off the good balls than obviously they will come into the side.

Ability to be able to be able to see off good balls is as important for an opener as his ability to hit boundaries especially for an un dependable batting lineup.

Are we playing cricket in 1987 or 2021 here? What other ODI team openers are used to see of the good balls and new ball?

Add to that if you are going to start your inns slow you need to be able to score quickly later. Something imam cant do.

 

[Hasan123]

Great shot by Imam.

 

[msb314]

Good shot by imam

 

[Hasan123]

Imam is not perfect but for our batting standards he is a good batter. I get why people don't like him but I think some people are OTT with their remarks towards him. Seems as though the criticism and hate on him does fuel him.

 

[Thanos]

I don't see anything wrong with the approach so far. People asking for aggression citing flat pitch, Pakistan can score 80-85 in last 10 overs if it's flat wicket.
What's wrong in keeping wicket and taking team's total near 200 with 6-7 wickets in hand?

 

[Firebat]

Imam now batting at a higher strike rate than Babar

 

[Hasan123]

These 2 are looking comfortable here. There is a 100 on the table for both.

 

[Nasty Naz]

Babar is pure class. Best Pakistani batsmen to watch since Mohammad Yousuf.

 

[shamaan]

Great balance jheeze

 

[Amjid Javed]

Babar is pure class.

 

[Sunzi]

Picked off through midwicket. Supreme.

 

[Firebat]

Such a majestic stroke maker

 

[shamaan]

Imam now batting at a higher strike rate than Babar

You sure

 

[Amjid Javed]

Imam now batting at a higher strike rate than Babar

Babar says hello with those 2 boundaries

 

[ask_analyse_act]

btw is danish aziz a hitter or a middle order batsmen? I havent seen him play

He is a good prospect , need to give consistent chances,
A good middle order batsman with game finishing skills.

 

[Hasan123]

Babar has caught up well. Credit to him.

 

[marlonbrowndo]

I guess the one benefit of PTV sports is there’s no delay. It seems like half the people here are 5 minutes late to stuff

 

[Ab Fan]

Easy win for Pakistan.

SA with ABDV = Top 4 team
SA without ABDV = 7th team

 

[Ahmed216]

Baba makes cricket so much more watchable

 

[Titan24]

Are we playing cricket in 1987 or 2021 here? What other ODI team openers are used to see of the good balls and new ball?

Add to that if you are going to start your inns slow you need to be able to score quickly later. Something imam cant do.

Imam doesnt become dangerous exactly but covers up reasonably well more often than not as his Sr of 80 shows. I personally dont think we have opening batsmen who can survive good balls more often than not, correct me If I am wrong. I personally would take 40-50 for 1 in 10 overs start than 60 odd or 70 with 3,4 down and playing rest of the overs to have something on the board rather than giving themselves a chance to go above par.

If there is Pakistani opener who can consistently give quick starts with an average of over 40, he should come in. People often talk about run rates in modern that cricket but they dont talk about runs as you need players who can score runs consistently to target those 300 totals. Players averaging 20s or early 30s with SR of late 90s or around 100 wont bring in many high team totals.

 

[Firebat]

Babar says hello with those 2 boundaries

That door closed too fast for me

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Watch early play the ball late. Long time after yousuf , Pakistan has got Babar.

Thanks to MA for giving him consistent chances especially in tests.

 

[Gullycricket]

Babar ending Nortje career like he ended Steyn's 3 years back

 

[ChTab]

Imam now batting at a higher strike rate than Babar

He gets unnecessary hate from everyone here, he's a bit slow but he is by far the best opener in the country & he should definitely play in test & ODI's.

To all the people who are criticising Imam here, who else you want to see Shehzad, Azhar or Abid.

 

[Gullycricket]

He gets unnecessary hate from everyone here, he's a bit slow but he is by far the best opener in the country & he should definitely play in test & ODI's.

To all the people who are criticising Imam here, who else you want to see Shehzad, Azhar or Abid.

Agreed. He is way bettter than Fakhar, Fat Sharjeel , Imran butt, Abid in tests and ODI's

 

[Titan24]

Watch early play the ball late. Long time after yousuf , Pakistan has got Babar.

Babar is class but, only if he can go onto become as good against spin as Yousuf was than it would be amazing.

 

[Hasan123]

Maybe time to bring Rabada back on. Nothing happening for SA.

 

[Titan24]

Decent platform has been set. Babar should try to carry on till the end and Imam should try to up the anti going forward.

 

[Firebat]

This pair playing very well and are comfortably on track. SA need a couple of wickets badly.

 

[Hasan123]

50 for Babar. A good knock.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Got to be wary of possible rain here but also keep up scoring rates.

 

[Deewana Mastana]

Babar 50

 

[Nikhil_cric]

SA looking clueless as has been the norm in recent times

 

[ChTab]

Got to be wary of possible rain here but also keep up scoring rates.

Pakistan ahead atm as far as D/L is concerned.

 

[shariqnoor]

Cannot believe the hate Imam gets here. He's the reason why Pakistan isn't 2 or 3 down after 6 overs.

People will continously make excuses for Fakhar who is a certified hack but will hate on the guy who scores runs most of the time.

Sure he's no Roy, Bairstow, Dhawan, Kock, Rohit but he doesn't need to be. He's comfortably the best opening batsman in Pakistan and that's good enough. Until Pakistan can unearth a 40 average batsman with 90 SR, Imam is the best choice. I would certainly take a 60 at 85 SR with Imam than a 15 at 125 SR from Fakhar.