Pakistan close on 317/5 on Day 1 of the 1st Test against New Zealand in Karachi

Lovely knock Babar.....under huge pressure with the whole world against him, team being under pressure with loss of early wickets.

Needs to keep going and make it big
 
Well played Babar, meaningful 100 for 1st time in ages.
 
Well played Babar, meaningful 100 for 1st time in ages.
Babar is miles ahead of any batter in Pakistan, and it clearly shows. The posts asking him to be dropped just showed the IQ level of dumb Pakistan fans on here.

He needs to realize his issues of converting fifties to hundreds though. He dominated England for long periods before succumbing to a soft dismissal, and the rest just folded as usual.
 
Good inning by Babar as ever scoring important runs for Pakistan when Pakistani team is in trouble. Has scored century in all series Australia,England and now New Zealand.
 
Good inning by Babar as ever scoring important runs for Pakistan when Pakistani team is in trouble. Has scored century in all series Australia,England and now New Zealand.

Don't forget that great match-winning 100 on a turner in SL with Naseem Shah at the other end.
 
Bracewell looks exactly looks like younger version of Steve Buscemi
 
Poor bowling selection by NZ, if they seen England series its was mainly fast bowlers that troubled Pakistan. Three spinners too much, especially one being Sodhi whi has always been poor against Pakistan in any format.
 
Really good session for Pakistan

Well batted Babar and Sarfaraz
 
Excellent batting from Babar and Sarfaraz. But Babar should remember, job is not done yet, he needs to convert it into daddy 100. We missed Sarfaraz vs England, the result could have been surely different.
 
Good run rate. Even if they collapse which is inevitable, they'll still have 250.

Abdullah Shafique's glory run in Test cricket is over. Back to being an average batsman that he will become because of his average mindset.
 
It's good that Sarfraz was given a chance. Creates some competition between the keepers as it was in the 90s with Rashid and Moin alternating places. Rizwan became too complacent which accelerated a loss in form. It's good for Rizwan as well to go back and regain his hunger.
 
Rizwan was playing too much and needed rest and break from consistent international pressure , just as Sarfraz did in his last couple years.
 
Rizwan was playing too much and needed rest and break from consistent international pressure , just as Sarfraz did in his last couple years.

Rizwan was playing too much because he is the superman

He doesn’t need rest
 
Breath of fresh air so far, after the suffocation we had due to Bazball
 
Quite weird to see boult bowling in Australia while his team is struggling here
 
Rizwan was playing too much because he is the superman

He doesn’t need rest
A player will naturally want to play all games its upto the management staff to do the right thing and rest players for good of the player and the team.
 
Should have played Sajid instead of Nauman. Although Sajid is rubbish, he would've still posed relatively more threat than Nauman given how NZ is stacked with lefties.
 
One dive and Sarfaraz has done some damage to himself...awful match fitness
 
Good to see Sarfraz comeback after a long time. Rizwan was playing all three formats and deserve much needed rest. Rizwan and Sarfraz both have almost similar average high 30,s in Test cricket but Sarfraz played at much better strike rate in test matches. Inclusion of Mir Hamza looks like a good step . Both Sarfraz and Hamza are the selection of Shahid Afridi . Babar is a great batsman but not a smart captain. He is stubborn and don't take advice of others in selection matter. Shan Masood is very average player. His average is similar to that of spin bowler Naumaan even after playing 27 matches. Kamran Ghulam , Huraira , Sallauddin and Qasim Akram deserve a chance to prove in place of Shan, Abdullah Shafiq and Salman Agha .
 
Good run rate. Even if they collapse which is inevitable, they'll still have 250.

Abdullah Shafique's glory run in Test cricket is over. Back to being an average batsman that he will become because of his average mindset.
Did you actually see the first hour...it was a minefielf. They dropped a sitter of babar. Nobody could cope with the spin. Only blame is shakeels wicket as pitch was a road by then. Even our tail will score runs now.
 
Pakistan should adopt a horses for courses in test cricket.
Sarfraz bats better in these conditions and rizwan does so in SENA.
No need to have one playing everywhere.
 
Good partnership from these two. Babar converting his 50 to 100, and hopefully Sarfraz does the same.

We haven't crossed 350 in our 1st innings consistently enough, but looks like we're on our way.
 
Did you actually see the first hour...it was a minefielf. They dropped a sitter of babar. Nobody could cope with the spin. Only blame is shakeels wicket as pitch was a road by then. Even our tail will score runs now.

Funny how they are all after Abdullah now just because he isn't an aggressive character. These trigger happy fans don't deserve good young players. Yes there are other good young players in the wings but they aren't perfect either and it will be these very people calling for their heads as well if they fail after replacing Abdullah. Technically he is the most solid of them all. As for domestic performances, everyone mentioning Huraira should remember that Abdullah was the top run scorer in QeA until he was called up for international duties. So even if its about domestic performances, Abdullah deserves an extended run.
 
Pakistan need to get through new ball and close of play with these two in, Big 1st inns total is a must here.
 
Looks like fortune tide has tyrned for Pakistan with everything going their way from toss to drop catches to umpire calls and catches dropping away from fielders, and of course couple close run out chances. Let us hope Pakistan can win the match.
 
150 for Babar, should eye for his first ton. Don't think it would have been possible without Saifi's support.
 
150 for Babar, well played, Hopefully Sarfaraz will get a ton here as well.
 
Great work by Babar and Sarfaraz today. I hope the leggie can run through NZ tomorrow.
 
Daddy 100 brigade can rest easy now, and complain about lack of Big Moma double 100.
 
Unlucky Sarfaraz

Well batted

Great partnership with Babar
 
Well batted but as always 5 mins b4 close the wicket losing tradition continues
 
missed out on a great 100, he deserved it, any way well played Sarfi, we Pakistanis just can't shut the door for opposition team, just lack of grit and concentration, now just hope no more wickets tonight's, even though there are no bets on Agha he will make it to second day. Nz have big opening.
 
NZ into pakistans long tail now that sarfaraz is out
 
Well played Sarfraz.

Showed the dead out Rizwan how to bat.

Focus on your cricket and you might end your career as the greatest wicketkeeper batsman produced by Pakistan.
 
wicket couldnt have come at a better time for NZ. Babar will have to score bulk of the runs if pakistan are to score 400 plus.
 
Still need to aim for 400, depends on Babar and tail wagging
 
Excellent comeback from Kaptaan. Well Played and deserved a hundred. Loved to see that Rizwan was out there congratulating him.
 
Looks like we'll have the full 90 overs.

PAK should stick to Southern venues if hosting Tests in NOV or DEC to avoid bad light issues. We need to get the ground in Hyderabad up to international standards, or develop another ground in Karachi.
 
Funny how they are all after Abdullah now just because he isn't an aggressive character. These trigger happy fans don't deserve good young players. Yes there are other good young players in the wings but they aren't perfect either and it will be these very people calling for their heads as well if they fail after replacing Abdullah. Technically he is the most solid of them all. As for domestic performances, everyone mentioning Huraira should remember that Abdullah was the top run scorer in QeA until he was called up for international duties. So even if its about domestic performances, Abdullah deserves an extended run.

If you follow my posts, I've been after Abdullah since his first match. It's nothing new for me. It's not his low scores that is worrying. It's his thinking that will inhibit him becoming a decent batsman.
 
Sarfraz would already had 100 if he did jot sistained the injury as it stopped him running aggressively and also limited some of his shot selections. Either way opportunity well taken.
 
Salman in at 7.

Looks a bit nervous out there.
 
Nauman should have been sent in before Agha here i think.
 
Salman in at 7.

Looks a bit nervous out there.

The fact he keeps being used at 7, shows that team management dont rate him that much if your keeper is in ahead of you.

Sooner the guys dumped for a proper top 6 batsmen the better.
 
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