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Pakistan end Day 1 of the 1st Test on 33/4 after bowling out South Africa for 220

Patience and accuracy is key in these conditions.

Keep bowling tight and the SA batsmen will lose patience. Du Plesis is a T20 batsman, will play a rash shot.
 
those practice ptches next to the main pitch look so bad. couldnt they have covered with grass or something?
 
The new ball swung quite a bit and there was movement off the pitch as well. Hasan got spanked. Otherwise, Saffers would have been 4 down by now.

Nothing much with the 20 + overs old ball now though.
 
Pakistan should have given debit to another oldie in place of Faheem. Tabish may have been more of wicket taking threat. We should have enough batting for home condition without needing Faheem's batting.
 
Pak fielding has been sharpest I have seen for long time, but still we are not able to stop quick singles as often as we should.
 
Ball roughing up after rolling through those dry pitches

For reverse swing you need one half scuffed up and other still shiny/smooth. Scuffing up both sides won't help in reverse
 
For reverse swing you need one half scuffed up and other still shiny/smooth. Scuffing up both sides won't help in reverse

How do you scuff up only one side though? That's how teams do it. You throw it around and then work on shining one side by rubbing it on your trousers.
 
Shared session, I'd say (not having watched the match live, just going by scorecard).
 
That is one shocking ground. Grass looks half-eaten by moths with bald patches all over the side of the pitch. Shameful maintenance by the local officials for a series with a visiting international team.
 
If Pakistan bowl well today then this will assist the spinners especially Numan provided we bat tomorrow and day 3. Day 2 and 3 is very ideal for batting from what I’ve seen in QeA.
 
Oh is it? Ok, I hope the pitch assists spinners in the second session then. I read that fielding was very good. That's a positive, no?

It was SA’s session entirely. Our bowling had no bite, without that runout it would effectively only be 1 down.
 
Flat wicket......good for 3 days ...will break....later....big first inning total key 4 both teams
 
Random low bounce is a bigger concern. I think this is not the same wicket we used to see during QeA trophy. Batting will be very difficult from Day3 onwards.
 
Just started watching the game. That was a superb catch by debutant in slips. How is his batting prowess?
 
That is one shocking ground. Grass looks half-eaten by moths with bald patches all over the side of the pitch. Shameful maintenance by the local officials for a series with a visiting international team.

Unfortunately have to agree - i would have assumed that with Wasim Khan’s emphasis on grounds & pitches, they would have improved them. But no, in a sad condition as ever 😔
 
Flat wicket......good for 3 days ...will break....later....big first inning total key 4 both teams

I think the lack of Shamsi as a spinner will be the difference. Pacers won’t get much out of this surface even if you are KG.
 
Pakistani stadiums are not fit to host international cricket. The mediocrity of Pakistan cricket coupled with the pitiful state of our stadiums - it is a deadly competition.

I watched for a couple of overs and then switched off because I couldn’t bare it.

We do not deserve hosting rights for ICC tournaments even if pigs fly and BCCI allows us. This is ridiculous.
 
Doesn't look completely fit to me, or he's trying to get his radar right. He was hitting the bat hard for most of QeA trophy.

Problem for hasan is that at his height and at this speed, anything that is even slightly over pitched or slightly short or slightly wide has been absolutely murdered as confirmed by his pitch map.

Shaheen, being much taller and quicker, has managed to bowl dot balls even when he has erred.
 
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It was SA’s session entirely. Our bowling had no bite, without that runout it would effectively only be 1 down.

Don't think I agree. Getting 2 wickets in the first session on an extremely flat pitch is a decent effort. South Africa have a long tail and a 400+ first innings total should be a minimum requirement so Pakistan are only 1-2 wickets from being in a strong position. Hasan's first spell was really the only poor aspect of the session.
 
After watching pak vs nz and aus vs india ( great broadcast quality and beautiful grounds) this looks awful and boring. its painful to watch.:ds
 
I agree with playing tabish instead of Faheem, Hassan Is not a new ball bowler.
Pakistan took safe option trying to have longer batting line up.

We bowled really poor in that session , in these conditions were litchbsint doing much have to be patient and build up pressure , we need to Some how restrict South Africa to less then 300
 
Don't think I agree. Getting 2 wickets in the first session on an extremely flat pitch is a decent effort. South Africa have a long tail and a 400+ first innings total should be a minimum requirement so Pakistan are only 1-2 wickets from being in a strong position. Hasan's first spell was really the only poor aspect of the session.

350+ will be enough against Pakistan.

Secondly, one of those wickets was a runout and the other was Shaheen with the new ball. The only way we can expect more wickets by the end of today is if we take very good care of the ball as it gets older and Hassan, Faheem, and Shaheen take advantage of the reverse swing, which I don’t think they are good enough to do.

90 odd for 2 is a pretty good position to be in. Just one out of Elgar, Faf, and de Kock needs to get set to take the game away.

Unless we have some quick breakthroughs when the session resumes, we’re looking at a mammoth 120+ score from Elgar with minimum 50s by Faf and de Kock, while Bavuma and Linde can both hold a bat and contribute 30 odd.

My prediction is SA makes 320.
 
This will be an interesting match. Pakistan needs to restrict SA for below 350.
 
350+ will be enough against Pakistan.

Secondly, one of those wickets was a runout and the other was Shaheen with the new ball. The only way we can expect more wickets by the end of today is if we take very good care of the ball as it gets older and Hassan, Faheem, and Shaheen take advantage of the reverse swing, which I don’t think they are good enough to do.

90 odd for 2 is a pretty good position to be in. Just one out of Elgar, Faf, and de Kock needs to get set to take the game away.

Unless we have some quick breakthroughs when the session resumes, we’re looking at a mammoth 120+ score from Elgar with minimum 50s by Faf and de Kock, while Bavuma and Linde can both hold a bat and contribute 30 odd.

My prediction is SA makes 320.

I'd expect Hasan to take advantage of any reverse swing on offer, that's always been a strength of his. I think I might just be more optimistic about the batting lineup than you. Azhar, Babar, and Fawad is an incredibly experienced middle order and they'll be far more comfortable on this pitch than SA.
 
Waqar is such a useless bowling coach. This guy doesn't have any talent in coaching in any form of cricket. He should stick with commentary where he can boast about himself and bluff himself.
 
Typical karachi surface it looks like which will be very good for batting for 1st few days and then start to take more spin and reverse swing will start to be more prominent. 90/2 - Means its SA session pakistan need to take 3/4 wickets some how in next session as both elgar and Faf are capable of getting big hundreds. Good bowling and smart field settings required from Babar.
 
Unfortunately have to agree - i would have assumed that with Wasim Khan’s emphasis on grounds & pitches, they would have improved them. But no, in a sad condition as ever ��

Wasim Khan should be fired for this. It is seriously off-putting for the viewers. For a sport that is heavily dependant on TV money, you'd think we would atleast get tidy visuals of the pitch area. Awful.
 
The pitch against Sri Lanka was perfect. This pitch is made because Pakistan is scared of losing :))
 
Wasim Khan should be fired for this. It is seriously off-putting for the viewers. For a sport that is heavily dependant on TV money, you'd think we would atleast get tidy visuals of the pitch area. Awful.

Not WK's fault here. PCB provided all the required machinery & resources. NSK ground staff should be fired. Not only fired, but also heavy fines should be imposed on them.
 
Yasir is getting a lot of turn in this spell. Luckily for us, that drop catch of Faf did not cost much.
 
This is why Rizwan is one of the world's top keeper. Incredible catch.
 
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